[On-screen text: Introducing your new principal]
[Upbeat music plays throughout]
A smiling man comes gradually into focus as he walks towards us.
Mark Zahra (in voice over): Hi, I'm Mark and I'm looking forward to being the principal of your new school.
Mark walks across a lobby and into a room.
[On-screen text: Mark Zahra]
[On-screen text: Black Forest East Primary School (interim name)]
We see Mark talking to someone off screen.
[On-screen text: What was your education journey?]
Mark: When I was in, probably year 12, I had two really solid mentors as teachers and they encouraged me to be a teacher. So I think it started from there. Once I became a teacher, I had, again, lots of good mentor principals who encouraged me into the leadership area, and here I am.
[On-screen text: What does good education look like to you?]
Mark: Good education, to me, is where our students are taught at their point of need. And I think not just academically, but they're supported from a physical, social, emotional wellbeing sense as well.
Classrooms where teachers are encouraging of students to take risks, and they create a really safe environment for kids to take those risks because I think that risk-taking and failure is really important in learning. Wellbeing becomes extremely important in that regard, in terms of making sure that students have the supports and the adjustments that they need to be as successful as they can be.
[On-screen text: How will the design of the school help support students and teachers?]
Mark: I think our designs are absolutely amazing, and I'm so excited. We’ve got cutting-edge facilities: STEM, science, food tech, gym, sports, classrooms with IT that really will play out in that space as well. So it's super exciting to be able to grab a new school that, that has all of these resources for our kids and make something really special.
[On-screen text: What is your vision for the school?]
Mark: Our values, they spell DARE. So it's really about determination and that ability to keep going. The A is about acceptance. So again, really being inclusive of all people and everything that we do. Respect for yourself, for others, and for the community and the environment. And lastly, E for excellence, which is about not just being the best, but the best that you can be.
It's about setting some really high expectations for the school and setting some really clear values and a really clear vision. And so for me, that means that we can really drive that vision and those values together as a group.
[On-screen text: What type of leader are you?]
Mark: Me as a leader would be someone who is certainly approachable and someone who is going to work with you and work with the students or the teachers to do that. We don’t always have all the answers as leaders, so it's about finding out those things together.
[On-screen text: What are you looking forward to on day 1, Term 1?]
Mark: Day one, term one, all the small things are really exciting, I think. Seeing our students in uniform, seeing them bouncing into school, seeing that community come together for the first time, I think is really exciting.
A white background appears with the VSBA and Victoria State Government logos.
[On-screen text: www.schoolbuildings.vic.gov.au]
A black background appears and white text appears.
[On-screen text: Authorised by The Victorian School Building Authority, 33 St Andrews Place, East Melbourne]
[Transcript ends]
Updated