By Cam Lucadou-Wells
Ironically, the enduring Dandenong North Primary School principal Kevin Mackay OAM hated school as a kid, and “wasn’t much of a student”.
“I used to think school shouldn’t have been like this.
“It’s lovely now to be able to influence how our school operates.
“I often think I would have loved to have been a kid at this school (Dandenong North Primary School).”
He readily admits he was a “trouble-maker”.
And when asked by his technical school principal Marcus Beresford what he wanted to do with his life, Mr Mackay said he wanted to be a teacher.
“I was being a smart arse. I thought it was an impossibility.”
Mr Beresford told him that “if you pull your head in, I’ll make sure you get into teacher’s college”.
He was true to his word. It showed Mr Mackay the profound impact that a teacher can have.
In term 4, Mr Mackay’s remarkable 60-year teaching career across 10 schools comes to an end.
By some quirk, two of his former schools in Jeparit and Ballarat had taught former Prime Minister Robert Menzies.
His first far-flung posting was Jeparit Primary School. Mr Mackay would travel nearly 800 kilometres between the remote town to Melbourne each weekend.
He then taught at a 70-student school at Patchewollock in the Mallee, where some families lived on dirt floors.
At Musk Vale, Mr Mackay was the sole teacher of 17 pupils. He also presided over a school for inmates at Langi Kal Kal youth training centre.
Meanwhile his soon-to-retire assistant principal and wife Jenny Mackay says teaching has been in her blood.
It’s a vocation that’s drawn her since organising games in the street as a child.
Her father, a farmer who grew up in poverty in the Mallee, pushed for her to get an education.
“He’d say you’ve got to get a decent education to go forward.
“I can’t think of a better vocation. When you work with children, it’s a joy.
“When kids come up and give you a hug or tell you a silly joke, you can’t stay glum.”
The school has built an enviable reputation to bringing out the best in kids from more than 50 diverse backgrounds.
According to a recent official review, the school excelled across all five measured categories – teaching and learning, leadership, assessment, support and resources, and student engagement.
Its cutting-edge programs have been documented in award-winning films.
Mr Mackay says the key is to get teachers who “want to teach”.
They must be committed to it as a vocation, not a job. They must have high aspirations and be able to work out the “next step” for each child.
Great teachers at work are like watching an orchestra’s conductor, Mr Mackay says.
“It’s a joy to watch. We’ve got stacks in this school.”
One of the questions he asks aspiring recruits is if they actually like kids.
“You’d be surprised how many teachers don’t,” he says.
