Principal's story 1

When the flood waters came through … Bus routes were closed, roads were closed, communication was patchy, staff could not get through to school, students were at home (if they lived out of town) and were helping save properties.

Through it all, as principal, everyone relied on me knowing the latest on buses, road closures, measures to support emergency management and communication. Those staff who were affected by flood waters, could not be here to help...The constant overload of emails, phone calls and the need to be everywhere at once, became very hard. I was dealing with the pressure of the job as well as the pressure of supporting everyone else to support their own families and the students in their classes. It was stressful and overwhelming. I had little rest and headaches became worse … I was expected to have all the answers and I didn't …It would be nice to know that others could accept that I didn't know everything immediately and couldn't do everything on my own … I have learned that I can get through a tough situation and i can ask for help rather than wait for it to be offered. Telling people 'no' about doing things is okay (Principal testimony, demographic details witheld to protect privacy).

Principal's story 2

A student was dysregulated and was brought to my office [the principal then recounts an escalation of behaviours where the student threatened the principal with a range of objects including a knife. The principal places the school in lockdown] …This is a student that has many levels of trauma that we, as a small school, do not have the staff, capabilities or knowledge to fix. How do we deal with this child? Help this child? Protect other children from him? More and more there needs to be special settings for these children (Principal testimony from woman, primary school in a rural area).

Principal's story 3

In the case of the unexpected death, my response was to drive straight to the school camp … so that I could support the family members who arrived to take the student home and also support my teaching staff at camp, as they all knew the mother and child well. I also contacted my [regional manager] to see what support I could access for the family and my teachers, and the wider community … My school does not have a chaplain, social worker or counsellor … and that was the one thing the family needed from us (Principal testimony from woman, primary school in rural area).

Principal's story 4

I have … Senior Teacher positions I keep advertising for and cannot fill with no suitable candidates with constant ads on the loop … I have a senior teacher retiring and I cannot back fill them for Term 4 and a maternity leave where I couldn't backfill their Year 12 courses, trying frantically to think outside the box with TAFE and local delivery options, tearing my hair out with no one truly helping, just giving me the next person to contact and the run around … we lost a VET teacher last year and now with one … not returning for a year, I couldn't offer another VET subject for the range of hands-on kids we have...

This totally crushed me as I knew there was absolutely nothing I could do as there aren't teachers to backfill and as a result my senior students will suffer and suffer badly, and they simply will not be capable of learning via Distance Education. The powerlessness of all situations was too overwhelming … I wish people know how deeply I care about our students and doing right by them so feeling powerless to all my attempts at getting them staff they deserve and failing is like a dagger through my heart, leaving a hole that keeps bleeding and bleeding … I have learnt it's OK to fall in a heap because staff will help you if they see you're suffering (Woman, secondary school in rural area).

Principal's story 5

This is typical with many parts of our job as school leaders - we deal with highly emotional issues that can affect us greatly, but we need to present a strong controlled image to be there for all the others that depend on us. Whilst this is not unusual for leaders generally, the extra stresses when working with families and children mean that so much of your job is working on highly emotional issues (suicide, suspensions, bullying, social isolation, student and staff mental health...) and with people who are not itinerant in your workplace, but instead have a long relationship with your school and community … [COVID] highlighted the incredibly important and emotionally charged work that schools do in supporting our young people. We are still dealing with many issues long after the lockdowns and school closures have ended (Man, secondary school in rural area).

Principal's story 6

I was the deputy at [a low SES school] … "There’s no way you could [make plans for the day] ... There’s no way, because by the time you walk into the school at 7:45, there’s already kids there lining up outside the door. There’s phone calls that you’ve got to return. This problem’s created on the bus that morning. There’s this issue. These four; 12 staff are away with the flu … From the very time you walk into the place, you’re running on adrenaline (Male, leader of principals' organisation).

Principal's story 7

We've got a shortage of social workers, and a lot of school principals would argue that they don't have enough social worker and psychologist support within these schools. So, the senior staff within the school are frequently acting, and this is like quote, unquote, de facto social workers and psychologists, because they don't believe that they've got adequate access to the resource around that to support them and manage that. And therefore, that work is often translating back on to them (Male, leader of principals' organisation).

Principal's story 8

And you know that thing about the emotional capital that we bring, where you think, ‘Oh, I’ve got a tough conversation tomorrow'. We all play those games in our head the night before. Rarely do you have a time when you have a tough conversation that’s not scripted, at least in your head. And that’s wearing. And if you work in a low socioeconomic school that’s got a lot of those low socioeconomic challenges, they’re very frequent conversations you have with yourself (Male, leader of principals' organisation).

Principal's story 1

During an intense school community fight - both inside and outside of the school - a parent chose to stalk another school parent, following them in the supermarket loudly abusing them, parking outside their home and continuing to loudly abuse and threaten them. [The fight escalated, and resulted in a child being seriously injured by another parent]. The uproar and angst in the community was immense ...

At first, and for a number of days the incident meant that I had to be on high alert for the community, filtering all of the misinformation, providing updates without giving too much information, supporting the staff of the school while their emotions were skyrocketing. I worked on auto pilot to get the things done that needed doing and looking after others. I experienced massive nightmares and an increase in my anxiety levels - although no one on my staff or in the community would have been aware of this. Many people wanted to know everything that was happening, with ongoing updates, even though I often did not have further information. Also many staff members overstepped their boundaries and became involved in conversations that were not theirs to be had.

I really wish that people would understand that while a Principal is trying to manage a situation that they sometimes do not have the answers but are doing their best to find them, that when they have not shared all of the information it is for a professional and confidential reason and that we are using our best judgement in a rapid fire situation with a fast changing environment. All this while also trying to manage our own wellbeing and emotions. I learnt that my level of resilience during incidents is huge, however that putting support in place for myself at the time is critical so that I do not crash soon after - which is what often happens. I cope through adrenaline, but over time, and once the major care and response is complete, I become depleted and have very little in reserve to continue (Principal testimony from woman, primary school in rural area).

Principal's story 2

I was assaulted three times on one day by a student who was violent. It was only his 4th day at the school, and he came with a raft of allegations around violence, sexual assault against children and drug crimes. I had approached the Learning and Wellbeing team to negotiate support before he enrolled, but there was no one from previous locations who was willing to assist, and the Learning and Wellbeing team indicated that I could do nothing to support him before he enrolled because I would have to complete the paperwork based on what happened at our school. I remember getting frustrated and commenting ‘So you need our blood before anything can be done?’ The basic consensus was that yes, they needed our experience before we could put anything in place and everything was couched in bureaucratic terms denying the reality or minimalising it.

The assaults took place in separate places… The first was more a grab and push where he was asking where someone was, and he threatened to beat me if I didn’t tell. I just held my arms up openly and said I didn’t know and repeated that he had to leave the site. The second one took place after I had gotten him off site and was calling my director to inform them what had happened. He was perhaps 100m away from me, over the road and when he saw me he went in to a rage. I told my director that he was charging towards and that I’d leave my phone on and put it in my pocket so they could listen. They told me to sound the lock down. I put my phone in my pocket and he charged up and hit me a couple of times. I covered myself and backed towards the office and locked myself in and sounded the lock down. He started beating on the door, but it was locked so I knew I was ok. I took the phone out of my pocket and my director had hung up. I was so let down.Once the lock down was sounded, I knew who he was looking for, and was worried that the bell system couldn’t be heard on the far side of the school...I left the admin building and headed over. I could see the Kindergarten class was outside with a casual teacher who didn’t know what to do, so I went to them and told them to get inside and lock the doors. The student saw me at this point and ran over and pushed me and hit me. This took place in front of the kids and I was horrified.

I knew he had family members in that class too, and I was worried for them – seeing their principal getting hit and any consequences for them feeling safe at school. He left me for a moment and I continued towards another building to tell them to lock down. The class on the other side of the school had continued playing sport, ignoring the bells assuming them to be a mistake. I told them it was a lock down and directed them inside a nearby building before returning back to the admin block. At this stage he was raging, smashing bricks, kicking on doors, yelling out. He then left the site and the police arrived. I gave statements and was told I’d have to follow up with them later. When I next spoke with my [senior manager], they indicated to me that I should reconsider my proposal for a long-suspension... No one stepped in to help. I had to keep documenting everything I was doing with the family to get the boy back into school. The conversations with the police were difficult because they didn’t want to share information because I was the victim of the alleged assault, but they also wanted to work with me to seek his educational continuity. I got a call later that night from the [senior manager] who just asked if I was ok. I said that I wasn’t, that it was a crap situation, but that I’d be ok. It was left at that....The student moved away, but didn’t enrol elsewhere.

I was chasing his enrolment and attendance for months afterwards. No one in other jurisdictions picked up on his non-attendance. The whole system moved on like nothing happened nor mattered. I’ve told my director that I felt let down, but it has been minimised and other things cited, but this experience has broken my relationship with my employer. They don’t care. At the same time, the push forward with meaningless systematic priorities continues unabated. The priorities are wrong, and I can’t do anything to shift that. I learned that the principals are not valued for what they have to offer, that we have been manipulated to being system tools to implement an external agenda. All the talk about local context and so forth means nothing when the system seeks to micromanage a principal. My knowledge, skills and experience are not valued. The increasingly bureaucratic language seeks to gloss over real problems and impose a shining veneer. It’s classic mudguarding – shiny on top and covered with shit below. The way the system is structured, dissent is punishable. It's a joke, because the same legitimate tools to promote harmony and unity with the Code of Conduct, have become blunt instruments to silence debate and demand loyalty, alongside an appreciation for the long-term service of principals (Principal testimony from man, additional demographic details witheld for privacy).

Principal's story 3

Each time, as Principal I was called to the classroom to manage the child as the class and staff exited for safety. As a figure of authority, the student turned his physically violent attention towards me on each occasion. This resulted in injuries including a dislocated thumb, injury to tendons in wrists, bruises and scratches. I was required to downplay these injuries on each occasion, so staff felt confident in my management of the situation despite my feeling that I was unable to manage and in fact continually put myself in dangerous situations.

[In one incident, the student] became dysregulated, and I was called to assist. The student physically attacked me as I entered the room, pinching me to make my hands and arms bleed, kicking me, hitting and biting. I was bitten on the breast which drew blood. His parents were called, and his father arrived to collect him. At this point, the student punched me in the face with the father and another staff member present. The father walked away with the child showing no care, concern or empathy. I was severely hurt. I had a black eye, broken skin and numerous bruises and scratches.

I suspended the child following this incident and was requested by DE to attend an online meeting with the child's family in the days following. I expressed concern at having to attend with a black eye and I was reluctant to be seen by students with such an injury. I asked for support from the Principal Health and Wellbeing team. The help was not forthcoming. In fact, 3 years later, I am still waiting. My response was to meet, continue to plan for the support of the student and to advocate for the safety of staff, who were terrified of the child and father. Staff were angry and upset, so I responded in a way that demonstrated I was okay (even though I was struggling) and reassured the students who were present and witnessed the assault that I was okay, and it was the behaviour I didn't like, not the child, so we needed to give him a fresh start when he returned. Practically, I attended the medical clinic and was given the first of 3 Hepatitis B vaccinations as a result of the significant bite and blood drawn. I did not claim work cover.

The incident actually made me question whether I wanted to be in the school. I was upset, felt a level of shame over having to attend my workplace and social settings with a black eye and my family were concerned, upset and angry. To be honest as a woman having to appear in public with a black eye, that in my case was the result of student violence, leads to many unspoken assumptions about family violence and I was conscious of this, thinking at times that people didn't believe the facts of what happened and thought I was covering something else up. This brought about humiliation in a small rural community as people spoke about me and the injury without the facts. I was very angry with the response of the father and the lack of empathy shown and also with [my employer] asking me to engage with him and continue to build a relationship in circumstances where I felt unsafe and unsupported.

I really wish that people understood that I had to fake how I was truly feeling so as not to look weak, to be in a position to support staff and because I was asked to attend meetings that I would have preferred not to. I wanted to be authentic but felt this would be seen as weak. I also felt that being authentic in my fear would lead staff and students to feel unsafe. I knew that I had to respond to this student in the coming days and show calm respectful behaviour as the student would not have capacity or ability to apologise or even discuss the incident. In all honesty, I learnt that as hard as it is to reach out for help, the help may still not be provided. I was shattered and I learned that I could not trust the structures put in place to support. Principals health and wellbeing which in my case failed, despite repeated requests (Principal testimony from woman, additional demographic details witheld for privacy reasons).

Principal's story 1

I called a lockdown [of the school] and I was the sole staff member who remained outside to meet my duty of care towards this student, while the student ran around with scissors, threatening harm. The student damaged school equipment during this time, including punching windows. Due to the student’s complex trauma background, I made the decision to not call the police and instead contacted the student’s carer at the time. This was a deliberate decision to support a child with multiple vulnerabilities. This was a highly stressful situation. I was committed to supporting my school community and staff, but there was no support provided to me.

My line manager was onsite at the time and locked down in my office during the lockdown. As soon as the lockdown was lifted, they left, leaving me as a beginning (12 months experience) principal to manage the ongoing situation. I was outside on my own with no phone, radio or keys to unlock a room to ensure my own safety during the lockdown. My own children attended the same school and I was concerned for their safety during the lockdown. The ongoing management took months and resulted in significant backlash from parents and the community. There was no support provided to me to manage workload, or to support me personally (Principal testimony from woman, primary school in rural area).

Principal's story 2

As a school leader I felt undermined and also angry at the unfounded accusations. I felt, as my staff were also aware of what was being said, I needed to keep it on a strictly professional footing. When questions are raised about you as a leader, it would be nice if someone had your back. This is not often the case, and you have to deal with issues such as this on your own. Particularly in a small school. From that point I decided to develop an exit strategy from the profession (Principal testimony from man, primary school in rural area).