Principal is in his prime

Harkaway Primary School principal Fred Hess has been recognised as the top primary school principal in Victoria.
Mr Hess won the Herald Sun principal of the year award, just because a grade two student thought he should.
She wrote her own nomination and showed it to her teacher.
Then the school and the school council took up the project and made a formal nomination.
Fred said someone came to him with a request to sign something but said he shouldn’t read it.
“Then there were interviews by people from the paper and others and my name was finally announced at the MCG.
“It was really a great experience.”
Fred said the experience came as a big surprise and it opened his eyes to the importance of the sort of recognition he received.
“It was a recognition of our school and our school community.
“Sometimes we see applications for such awards come across our desks and we let them go.
“Maybe we should stop and respond much more for our adults; we do it for children.
“I was really touched by this experience.
“We had two tables at the awards dinner at the MCG and I believe the whole thing was excellent for our school.”
Fred Hess was born at California, USA, and said he had a fairly normal childhood growing up among the orange groves.
“But it was in a growth area and the groves were disappearing to make way for houses.
“I remember growing up and seeing the smog taking over our valley.
“My family is still there, but here at Harkaway I’ve found a nice little corner not touched by development.
“I went back to see if I wanted to live there, but no, I find Australia a safe place to live and to raise a family.
“Nevertheless, I got my teacher training in the States.
“I was faced with the situation of a surplus of teachers in America and a shortage in Australia and came with the plane loads of American teachers.
“Most went back but I have kept in touch with the group I came out with and I speak with many parents who were taught by American teachers at some stage.”
Fred’s first Australian school was at Yarra Park in 1974 and from there he moved to Rowville, where he was possibly close enough to get a glimpse of the Harkaway area.
He taught at Waverley Meadows, Box Hill and spent several years at Bairnsdale.
“I’ve been at Harkaway for 16 years and I like it best,” he said.
Another favourite for Fred was Sarsfield State School in Gippsland where he was principal of a two teacher school before coming to Harkaway.
“My wife, Jackie, wanted to be closer to her family in the city, so Harkaway was a good compromise.”
Jackie is deputy principal of Nazereth College.
They have four adult children Jay, 29, Melanie, 27, Ben, 26, and Sarah, 25.
“Two of the boys are overseas so they have put me through the same pain of separation that I put my parents through.”
The school has succeeded in building a strong connection with the community and the school building is designed with big open spaces so that parents can come and go.
“Teachers have a home visit program where they can make connections with parents and we encourage sport such as basketball and baseball.
“In America sport is an elite thing and most sports people are professionals but in Australia anyone can get a game at any level.”
Perhaps there is a little of the American influence with baseball but then one of Fred’s sons is playing Australian rules football in America.
Fair swap.
He is proud of new development at the school and pleased with the school design.
“We have 188 students and 20 staff.
“We have a good school, well backed by the school council but I encourage diverse opinion.
“We need that to keep us awake and while Harkaway has a school that meets and addresses all the educational criteria we believe we have an environment that meets more than the educational needs of our children.
“There is a concentration on welfare and self esteem and we try to enable our children to be self motivated and independent.
“I am grateful to the staff of this school and to the kids at this school.
“They make it all worthwhile,” he said.