Steven Berezowksi has more than 20 years experience as principal, but he still admits to first-day jitters in his new school.
“Oh yes, lots of nerves to start with,” he said.
It is his first week at Richmond Primary in Adelaide, where he’s temporarily swapped places with fellow principal Tracey Davies.
“Coming here it’s a new curriculum, there are different levels of authority and it’s harder, much harder,” he said.
Student exchange programs are nothing new, but a principal swap is a novel approach for both Australia and New Zealand.
Jayne Johnston, the chief education officer at South Australia’s Department for Education and Child Development, said the concept was developed after conversations with New Zealand counterparts.
“It is very new,” she said. “We’re very keen for our leaders to have a global view [and] to put themselves into challenging situations.”
Australian teacher Tracey Davies has just finished her first week at Te Wharau, a high performing primary school within the city of Gisborne, where many students are Indigenous.
Ms Johnston said she hoped Ms Davies’ exposure to a foreign education system will be fertile ground for new ideas.
One area the department is hoping to examine is cultural inclusion.
“Maori children in New Zealand learn very well, almost as well as the whole population, so we believe there is something there that we need to learn from,” she said.
At Richmond Primary in Adelaide, Mr Berezowski received a warm welcome at his new school with students putting on a special performance.
He plans to return the favour before the term is up by teaching students the Haka.
