in the classroom
Newcastle East Public School principal Mick McCann . Picture : Supplied
‘ Best job i ’ ve ever had ’
Meet the principal of Australia ’ s oldest public school .
By Emilie Lauer
When Mick McCann first walked into Newcastle East Public School , he thought he was in Hogwarts .
“ I had no idea it was Australia ’ s oldest school ,” the 52-year-old told Education Review .
“ I was walking around and saw the big gothic buildings , the vaulted ceilings , the plate tile on the roof , the big thick walls , and I rang my wife and said , ‘ I think I ’ m the principal at Hogwarts .’
After being unsuccessful in applying to work other schools , Mick landed in Newcastle - a job he was surprised to get .
“ I had zero expectations ; all I was chasing was feedback on my interview technique - but I must have done all right .
“ I was stoked that I got it , and the opportunity I ’ ve been given here at Newcastle East is phenomenal .
“ The staff I ’ ve got are amazing , the kids are ridiculously good , and their parents too .”
According to Mick , the “ vibe ” of the school brings the community , the kids and the staff together .
“ It is like we pride ourselves that when people walk in our school , they go ‘, Oh , yes , I do like this .’
“ It ’ s similar to when you ’ re looking to buy a house , and you walk into one you really like , and you get that feeling .”
Newcastle East Public School was established in 1816 , before public education began in NSW .
At the time , it was a charity school settled in a church vestry tasked to provide free education to all children from convicts or free settlers in Newcastle .
The school then joined the state public education system in 1883 .
The school office and five classrooms built in 1878 are in a heritage-listed building which , according to Mick , comes up with a “ couple of quirky cool things .”
“ The school started with 17 convict free settler and soldier kids . We have a sculpture representing the 17 initial students in the garden to commemorate them .
“ In my office , there used to be a trap door in the middle of the room that allowed people to escape if they ever got in trouble .”
All across the school , artefacts from different eras can be found telling the story of its walls , including an honour board from World War One which Mick said was “ unique ” and a “ living archive ” of the war .
Today the school ’ s history is embedded in its identity and culture and is shared with its 257 students .
“ It ’ s just become part of our vernacular and what we do when discussing our school . It ’ s just automatic ; we talk about the school history ; it is not contrived nor pushed ; it ’ s a constant little drip feed of cool facts .
“ Our logo is our building , and our motto is Australia ’ s oldest school . On the back of our hoodies , instead of putting Newcastle ’ s public school , we ’ ve got 1816 - it ’ s integrated into everything that we do .”
Mick said the school history is also woven into the town history , which allows staff to go on walking excursions around the local community and delve deeper .
“ We ’ ve got those little tidbits that we can grab on and draw in and keep the narrative going on and reinforce how important the school ’ s history is .”
In Australia , teaching history has become an increasingly controversial topic over the years .
In 2022 , while reviewing the curriculum , the former government expressed concerns that the original history draft curriculum did not include enough about Australia ’ s Western and Christian heritage .
According to Mick , teaching history is essential even when it depicts terrible actions .
“ We need to acknowledge what happened and move forward , ensuring we ’ re not making the same mistakes ,” he said .
“ With Aboriginal history , we know how deep and how long that was , and we know that there was the stolen generation , there ’ s been the apology , we are moving forward and putting a very strong focus on Aboriginal history and language and culture ; which is important .
“ But we can ’ t ignore it ; we need to acknowledge and understand the mistakes made .”
According to the school principal , teaching history has been always challenging , but being in Australia ’ s oldest school helps address the subject .
“ Because you ’ ve got these direct historical artefacts in and around the school , it helps develop that narrative and tie things in .”
Mick said he ’ s enjoying teaching the kids the history of the school and Australia ’ s past .
Over the past 200 years , Newcastle East Public School has thrived , but being Australia ’ s oldest school principal can be challenging .
In 2020 , the primary school had serious asbestos “ scare ” that put kids and staff ’ s health at risk .
“ Fortunately , this is only a small percentage of the job ,” Mick said .
“ After all these years , being Newcastle East school principal is easily the best job I ’ ve ever had .
“ Even on the worst day , I still love my job .” ■ educationreview . com . au | 23