Chalky signs off

By Tania Martin
BOB Shepherd’s retirement marks the end of an era for Sherbrooke Community School.
The 60-year-old principal has been with the school from the beginning. But he says it’s now time to move on.
Mr Shepherd joined the school in 1985 as a teacher, when it was nothing more than two small classrooms.
He then spent the next 10 years teaching, before being appointed assistant principal.
Mr Shepherd has been in the big job for the past 12 years and said it had been a great honour to help shape the school into what it was today.
“It’s been the best thing I have done, helping to start the school and reinventing it to make it relevant to the 21st century,” he said.
“The school is now one of the best Prep to Year 12 community schools in the area.”
Mr Shepherd will sign off as principal on 25 June for his last day of school.
“It will be a bit of a wrench but I’m ready for that … it’s exciting,” he said.
Mr Shepherd has seen the school grow from just 30 students in an old guest house to 160 students today.
He said the school at the current site was developed in consultation with parents and teachers in a bid to make it a more homely environment.
Mr Shepherd is a big believer in kids taking control of their own education.
“The key element is teachers, parents and students working together in harmony to individualise our programs,” he said. “We just keep reinventing ourselves.”
Mr Shepherd said a high point of his career has been seeing students making their mark on society.
“We have had some research scientists and teachers and it proves that small schools can deliver,” he said.
Mr Shepherd never expected a career switch from working with the weather bureau to teaching would lead to a life-long love of education, but it did. He will now return to enjoying the simpler things in life such as sailing and surfing.
“I can now get my surfboard out and reconnect with the things I just don’t get time to enjoy,” he said.
Mr Shepherd will also take a trip to the Himalayas to visit Sherbrooke’s sister school in Bhutan.
“I’m still interested in education and will keep my hand in there,” he said.