David Shepherd - Ballarat Clarendon College 16/2/23 Gallery

The principal of Ballarat Clarendon College, David Shepherd OAM delivered a entertaining yet thought provoking presentation to our meeting last week. David is soon to retire after over two decades as principal of Clarendon during which he has seen the student population grow threefold. David gave a humorous insight into his preparation for his interview for his position (which was chaired by Rob Glass). On a more serious note, David emphasized the importance of a leader having a vision and continuously referencing against the vision when making both small and large decisions. He spoke of the current need to integrate both educational and student welfare activities in order to always place his priority on serving the interests and needs of his students. He went onto discuss the importance of establishing an environment that facilitated the development of each student's resilience and willingness to give 100% effort to each and every task. When asked about what he saw as the challenges ahead for education, David noted the ongoing sector-wide difficulty in recruiting teachers, the ubiquitous nature of social media, along with impact of artificial intelligence on both student learning and welfare.