Assistant Principal (Ap1-1)

Department of Education & Training, Victoria; Swifts Creek; On-site; AUD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Guthridge Primary School in Gippsland - Wellington invites applications for Principal and Assistant Principal roles. The successful candidate will lead educational vision, manage budgets and policies, and drive student outcomes through strong team leadership and collaborative planning.

The roles report to the principal and require strategic oversight of school programs, budgets, and staff development to support inclusive learning and high standards.

Qualifications

• Outstanding capacity for visionary and exemplary leadership of a school.
• Strong ability to lead and manage change including leading others.
• Ability to implement policies to a high level with collaborative PLC leadership.
• Commitment to using learning technologies to improve teaching and learning.
• Ability to motivate staff and build an effective team.

Responsibilities

• Supervise and coordinate senior curriculum or level coordinators.
• Allocate budgets, positions of responsibility, and resources.
• Oversee delivery of teaching programs.
• Lead programs to improve staff knowledge and experience.
• Contribute to school management and policy formulation.
• Ensure effective management of the school’s educational programs.

Skills

Educational leadership

Change management

Stakeholder engagement

Staff development

Interpersonal skills

Education

Administrative leadership (not specified)

Job description

Occupation: Principal and assistant principal

Location: Gippsland - Wellington

Reference: 1552597

Location Profile

Guthridge Primary School is located in Sale, Gippsland, and is approximately 220 km east of Melbourne.

Enrolments for 2027 will be approximately 280 with a Student Family Occupation and Education (SFOE) index of 0.5070.

Our school has high expectations of all its students and aims to provide an opportunity for each of them to develop as learners, now and in the future.

Guthridge has a Foundation-support class specifically designed to support the transition from kindergarten to school for children who need a settling year of school, after a year at kindergarten.

Play allows children to develop their oral and functional language skills as well as expand their imagination and creativity.

Play helps children develop social skills, including conflict resolution skills and self-advocacy skills

Play also helps children develop patience, a sense of belonging and essential communication skills.

Guthridge Primary School has a well-established Program for Students with Disabilities. We use our Equity funding to provide additional supports and intervention to identified students with a philosophy of full inclusion in the classroom. Further to this, we have a well-established wellbeing team consisting of a Student Wellbeing Officer providing additional support to students and families five days a week, as well as highly experienced Education Support Staff providing Integration Aiding to identified students.

Additionally, the Department of Defence provides our school with funding to employ a Defence School Mentor to provide assistance and support to the children of Australian Defence Force members at our school.

Guthridge Primary School is committed to promoting the safety, participation and empowerment of all children, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, vulnerable children and children with a disability.

Selection Criteria

Selection Criteria

SC1 Educational leadership

• Outstanding capacity for visionary and exemplary educational leadership of a school.
• Highly developed skills in leading and managing change including the leadership of others in the process of change.

SC2 Financial, managerial and administrative ability

• Outstanding financial, organisational and resource management skills.

SC3 Planning, policy and program development and review

• Exemplary values appropriate to the development of student learning with a demonstrated capacity to achieve high quality student outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability to implement Department policies to a high level, including proven leadership of Professional Learning Communities.
• An understanding of, and a commitment to, the use of learning technologies to improve teaching and learning.

SC4 Leadership of staff and students

• A highly developed capacity to motivate staff, develop their talents and build an effective team.
• A clear capacity to foster a learning environment that takes account of the individual needs of students and helps students to develop their special abilities and talents.

SC5 Interpersonal and communication skills

• Highly developed interpersonal and communication skills in individual, small group and community contexts.
• Exemplary values pertaining to personal qualities of objectivity, sensitivity and integrity.
• An ability to work with parents and the community to develop a strong learning environment.

Role

The assistant principal reports directly to the principal.

Assistant principals have a primary responsibility for the management of significant areas or functions within the school to ensure the effective development, provision and evaluation of the school's education program.In exercising the responsibility, assistant principals will have the authority to make all significant decisions relating to the program, budget and staff relating to their area of designated responsibility within the framework of the school's strategic plan, policies and budget.Assistant principals will contribute to the overall management of the school through involvement in policy formulation and decision making.

The management of significant school program or functional areas in schools involve assistant principals in the analysis of the needs of students and the translation of state educational policy and frameworks into appropriate education programs to meet the needs of all students.

Typically assistant principals will be responsible for the effective use of the teaching staff and program budget of a defined area of the school's operation and for the oversight and leadership of the educational programs provided utilising these resources.

Responsibilities

Typical, assistant principals perform one or more of the following functions:

• supervision and coordination of the work of senior curriculum or level coordinators;
• allocation of budgets, positions of responsibility and other resources within the area of responsibility;
• supervision of the delivery of teaching programs;
• management of programs to improve the knowledge and experience of staff;
• responsibility for general discipline matters beyond the management of classroom teachers and year level coordinators;
• contribute to the overall management of the school;

Who May Apply

Appropriately qualified individuals currently registered or eligible for registration with the Victorian Institute of Teaching.

Diversity and Inclusion

The department is committed to diversity and inclusion and developing a workforce that is representative of the community we service. We value diversity and inclusion in all forms - culture, gender, religion, ethnicity, LGBTIQA+, disability and neurodiversity. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander candidates are strongly encouraged to apply for roles within the Department.The Department recognises that the provision of safe, respectful and inclusive workplaces is essential to high performance and promotes flexible work and diversity across all schools and Department workplaces.It is our policy to provide reasonable adjustments for staff with disability (see Workplace adjustment guidelines ).

Additional support and advice on the recruitment process is available to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander candidates from the Koorie Outcomes Division (KOD) via [e-mail]

Applicants seeking part‑time employment are encouraged to apply for any teaching service position and, if they are the successful candidate, request a reduced time fraction. Such requests will be negotiated on a case‑by‑case basis and will be subject to the operational requirements of the school.

Child Safe Standards

Victorian government schools are child safe environments. Our schools actively promote the safety and wellbeing of all students, and all school staff are committed to protecting students from abuse or harm in the school environment, in accordance with their legal obligations including child safe standards. All schools have a Child Safety Code of Conduct consistent with the department's exemplar available at:

The department's employees commit to upholding the department's Values: Responsiveness, Integrity, Impartiality, Accountability, Respect, Leadership and Human Rights. The department's Values complement each school's own values and underpin the behaviours the community expects of Victorian public sector employees,including those who work in Victorian Government Schools. Information on the department values is available at:

To be eligible for employment, transfer or promotion in the principal or teacher class:

• The person must have provisional or full registration approved by the Victorian Institute of Teaching; and
• if the person completed an Australian postgraduate level initial teaching program or course of study on or after 1 January 2024, they must demonstrate that they have satisfactorily completed a postgraduate level accredited initial teacher education program that has been accredited by an Australian State or Territory Teacher Regulatory Authority as satisfying the requirements of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership 'Accreditation of initial teacher education programs in Australia: Standards and Procedures'; and
• a person who graduated from a Victorian Initial Teacher Education (ITE) program after 1 July 2016 must also demonstrate that they have passed the literacy and numeracy test for initial teacher education (LANTITE) requirements (this condition is satisfied where the LANTITE requirement is part of the Victorian ITE program completed by the person).

Applications close Sunday 22 November 2026 at 11.59pm