There once was an office that grew into a school

I started working at Gungahlin College in late August of 2010. At that time there was a Principal (Gai Beecher, who was appointed in July), a Executive Teacher, a business manager and myself (Associate or Deputy Principal). In those days the College was a construction site and we all worked from a small office upstairs in the Gungahlin Market place. With the College opening for the school year in 2011, we got very busy appointing the rest of our staff and establishing a school.

Gungahlin College Office\Shop front July to December 2010

I recall a very busy first week where we had to: visit both of our feeder schools and talk about the college; visit the Australian Science and Mathematics School (ASMS) in Adelaide; and finalise 22 classroom teaching positions. This little office was a hive of activity where Gai's catch phrase "Every day is a big day at Gungahlin College"  rang true. From this brightly coloured office we organised and appointed another 7 executive teachers and our admin staff, enrolled students, took student ID photos, had our initial planning meetings with executive, created all of our start up procedures and processes, and had our initial  staff get together.

Office partition complete with College Plans and student uniform

 This little office was a place of robust conversation and many new ideas. With no sink and no toilet the shopping centre facilities and accompanying music also helped the creative juices flow. In the time leading up to the College opening the staff were only able to visit the college site on two occasions. I felt at times that we where buying a school from the 'plans' not knowing exactly how the building would finish up, and how it would function as an effective learning environment.

Front counter of shop front - complete with funky lights