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Katie Woolf spoke with retiring Stuart Park Primary Principle Bernie Bree · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I'm not sure about you, but when I went to school,
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: I was probably a little bit scared of the school principal.
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  Speaker 1: But the school principal at Stuart Park Primary School, he
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  Speaker 1: walks through the school yard and he is treated.
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  Speaker 2: Like an absolute rock star by the kids there.
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  Speaker 1: And that principal, mister Bernie Bree joins me on the
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  Speaker 1: line right now.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning to you, Bernie.
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  Speaker 3: Good morning Katie. How are you ver well?
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  Speaker 2: Well, look, I've never seen anything like it.
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  Speaker 1: The kids sort of flock to you at Stuart Park
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  Speaker 1: Primary School, mister Bray.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I guess it's Katie. I don't think it's just me,
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  Speaker 3: but it's a part of the culture of the school.
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  Speaker 3: But you know, we we like and respect each other,
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  Speaker 3: you know, and that happens pretty quickly. Kids get to
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  Speaker 3: know that this is a safe place to be and yeah,
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  Speaker 3: we all like you and we'll all work together. So yeah,
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  Speaker 3: but I do like the rock star.
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  Speaker 2: I agree.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I know lots a kids who think you're a
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  Speaker 1: bit of a rock star, mister Bray, and plenty of
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  Speaker 1: them are going to be feeling pretty sad, I reckon
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  Speaker 1: by the end of this year, because you are set
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  Speaker 1: for retirement.
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  Speaker 3: I am I am, I think four weeks ago, Cadie. Yeah,
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  Speaker 3: I'll finish up at the end of the year.
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  Speaker 2: Now, how long have you been teaching? Firstly at Stuart
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  Speaker 2: Park Primary School.
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  Speaker 3: So I arrived in April two thousand and three, and yeah,
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  Speaker 3: I never expected I be here in December twenty twenty.
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  Speaker 3: But it's just been a beautiful journey, you know. And
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  Speaker 3: I think pretty early in my time here, I realized
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  Speaker 3: that this was just a lovely community, a great place
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  Speaker 3: to be, and you know, the challenges have kept me,
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  Speaker 3: kept me going and I love working with the people.
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  Speaker 3: That's the people in the community and the teachers and
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  Speaker 3: the kids. And I thought, well, why would I move
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  Speaker 3: on when I still have a lot to do here. Yeah,
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  Speaker 3: I think I see a lot of young leaders in education,
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  Speaker 3: and I think it's time to hand over. And I
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  Speaker 3: hand over with a lot of joy because you know,
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  Speaker 3: the principal meetings that I look around at now and
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  Speaker 3: i'd see some really great people coming through. So Stuart
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  Speaker 3: Park is in for the next step up.
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  Speaker 2: I think, well, I'll tell you what.
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  Speaker 1: I think that's the real sign of a leader, is
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  Speaker 1: it somebody who you know who sort of helps to
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  Speaker 1: foster the next generation through and you do that in
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  Speaker 1: so many ways, not only as you speak about now
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  Speaker 1: with the next generation of teachers going and stepping up
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  Speaker 1: into those principal roles, but with the kids as well.
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  Speaker 1: And and you spoke about the culture obviously at Stuart Park.
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  Speaker 1: It's something that you place a real emphasis on, isn't
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  Speaker 1: it as the principal.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, Katie, that's that's the sure. And you know when
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  Speaker 3: we talk to oh, we're going to have some music
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  Speaker 3: in the background here, that's all right. When I talk
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  Speaker 3: to new parents, I let them know that, you know,
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  Speaker 3: our major focus is on building good, strong relationships throughout
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  Speaker 3: the school, and that includes not just helping the children
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  Speaker 3: to build relationships with their friends in the class, but
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  Speaker 3: the teachers are all involved in this as well. And
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  Speaker 3: you know, kids in the class will know what their
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  Speaker 3: teacher does on the weekend if they go fishing, or
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  Speaker 3: you know, if they play sports, or you know, when
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  Speaker 3: they turn up at school with her. We've got the
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  Speaker 3: one with a broken arm right now, they know that
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  Speaker 3: that's because they play AFL. And you know, we have
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  Speaker 3: good relationships and we probably all know that it's easier
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  Speaker 3: to put in a big day's work for someone you
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  Speaker 3: like than someone you don't like. And so the academics
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  Speaker 3: comes because of the way we have built the culture
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  Speaker 3: and the safe environment and the relationships within the school,
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  Speaker 3: and that's why I think we achieve well.
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  Speaker 1: Now, mister Brae, obviously you've been you've been at Stuart
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  Speaker 1: Park since two thousand and three.
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  Speaker 2: How many years have you been teaching?
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  Speaker 3: Oh gosh, yeah, the first year in the territory. Well,
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  Speaker 3: first year teaching was seventy nine. So I came to
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  Speaker 3: the territory soon after the cyclone, but not as a teacher.
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  Speaker 3: Teaching was what I'd always planned to do, but I
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  Speaker 3: did my economics to Ury at Queensland Union. I came
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  Speaker 3: up here and I actually worked as a town plan
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  Speaker 3: I believe it or not. What was what was I
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  Speaker 3: think called the Darwin East Acquisition Area, beautiful name, but
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  Speaker 3: actually became Palmerston And it was just a marvelous probably
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  Speaker 3: eighteen months working in town planning on such a project.
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  Speaker 3: But you know, when that project was over, the I
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  Speaker 3: just wanted to go back and do my teaching and
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  Speaker 3: so I did, and I started off at Nightlift Primary
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  Speaker 3: in seventy nine.
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  Speaker 2: Wow, so nineteen seventy nine, goodness, me It's been a
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  Speaker 2: long and a Austria's career for you. By the sounds
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  Speaker 2: of it, that's.
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  Speaker 3: The like ancient history, and so much has changed, you know,
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  Speaker 3: in education, but so much has remained the same as well.
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  Speaker 3: And you know we talked about relationships and back then
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  Speaker 3: that's what it was all about. You know, we didn't
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  Speaker 3: have computers or smart you know, smart boards or any
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  Speaker 3: of those things, but we still you know, the basic
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  Speaker 3: premise of teaching was still there. That's never changed.
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  Speaker 2: Mister Brie. Would have been the biggest highlights for you.
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  Speaker 3: I've been nice this so many times, Katie, over the
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  Speaker 3: last the last few months. And big highlights, I don't.
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  Speaker 3: I think certainly the highlight of my career was getting
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  Speaker 3: Stuart Parker's principal. That wasn't at all expected. And I
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  Speaker 3: knew the man Rod Best, who was the principal here
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  Speaker 3: before me, and he was a bit of a legend
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  Speaker 3: and a lovely man, and I sort of thought I
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  Speaker 3: was a bit out of out of my depth even
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  Speaker 3: applying for it. So I'm so grateful that I got
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  Speaker 3: a job that I've loved for so long. So it's
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  Speaker 3: pretty hard to beat that highlight. But I think the
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  Speaker 3: highlight happens every morning, you know I do. I walk
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  Speaker 3: most mornings, Cody, and I put this plan in my
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  Speaker 3: head when I'm walking about what I'm going to do
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  Speaker 3: through the day, and one day I might actually get
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  Speaker 3: to follow through on that plan. But you know, I
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  Speaker 3: arrived at school and something happens, and you know, you
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  Speaker 3: go off on a different tangent, and you get to
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  Speaker 3: late afternoon and all the kids have gone home, and
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  Speaker 3: you think I can start on that plan now, And
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  Speaker 3: I've just enjoyed that that every day is different. Every
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  Speaker 3: day's got challenges and joys, but it's every day is different.
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  Speaker 1: So, mister Bree, final day of work? Is it the
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  Speaker 1: Is it going to be the last day of the
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  Speaker 1: school year?
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  Speaker 3: I better come back and clean up the week after
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  Speaker 3: because you know, the next principle probably work the same
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  Speaker 3: way as I do with it looks like some sort
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  Speaker 3: of chaos, but a better you know, clear the desk
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  Speaker 3: and make the place livable. But yeah, basically that that's
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  Speaker 3: the seventeenth. I really should know that should the seventeenth
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  Speaker 3: of December.
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  Speaker 2: I don't know either that I should probably.
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  Speaker 3: Find out Katie, if you send your children on the.
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  Speaker 1: Friday, that's exactly right, mister Bree. Is there much planned
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  Speaker 1: to celebrate your final day? I know that the whole
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  Speaker 1: whole school community is going to miss you so much.
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  Speaker 3: You know, my plan it was simple, but that wasn't
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  Speaker 3: the plan of the community. So yeah, there seems to
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  Speaker 3: be celebrations going on every week right now. It's been
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  Speaker 3: pretty bizarre at this school, and I think the children
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  Speaker 3: have got into the swing of it, and every week
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  Speaker 3: has had a theme. We're on Irish Week right now.
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  Speaker 3: That's the music may have been heard in the background.
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  Speaker 3: But we've had some amazing weeks and it's been fantastic.
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  Speaker 3: And you know, I think I meet with the ex community,
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  Speaker 3: the people who are past parents, on this Friday, and
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  Speaker 3: then there is a special assembly on the Tuesday of
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  Speaker 3: the last week. And you know the thing I said
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  Speaker 3: to my senior staff when I let them know I
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  Speaker 3: was retiring, I said, can I just go out quietly?
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  Speaker 1: No?
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  Speaker 3: I think the answer is no. Yeah, there's a lot
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  Speaker 3: of planned.
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  Speaker 2: I bet there is. I've heard some of it.
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  Speaker 1: I've heard I've heard the kids talking about some of
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  Speaker 1: the excitement.
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  Speaker 2: Well, mister Bree, you've been a You've.
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  Speaker 1: Been a phenomenal principle I know that there'd be so
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  Speaker 1: many people out there listening at the moment who have
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  Speaker 1: been involved with the Stuart Park School in various ways,
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  Speaker 1: whether as students or or you know, whether it's parents,
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  Speaker 1: and they would all.
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  Speaker 2: Echo the sentiment that you've done a phenomenal job.
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  Speaker 1: And you know, there is a saying that the greatest
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  Speaker 1: gift that a man can give is his time and
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  Speaker 1: belief in other people. And I think that that saying
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  Speaker 1: really hits the nail on the head with you because
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  Speaker 1: it is something that you have done for so many
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  Speaker 1: of the Northern Territory community.
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  Speaker 2: So a big thank you.
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  Speaker 3: Oh thank you, Katie. It's been a joy. As I said,
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  Speaker 3: it's never it's never felt like a real job, you know,
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  Speaker 3: coming to school and doing what you love with people
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  Speaker 3: you love working with and then someone pays you what
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  Speaker 3: a bonus? It has been a joy?
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  Speaker 1: Well, you know what, you know, you you don't find
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  Speaker 1: school teachers every day that sort of feel like that.
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  Speaker 1: I know there's a lot in the community that do
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  Speaker 1: feel that way, but I think it just goes to
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  Speaker 1: show you why you've been such a wonderful teacher and
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  Speaker 1: why you've been such a wonderful principle, because that's exactly
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  Speaker 1: how you approach school each and every day.
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  Speaker 3: Thanks Katie, thank you so much, and you know, thank
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  Speaker 3: you to the community who always made me welcome and
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  Speaker 3: you know right to now. We had our final school
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  Speaker 3: council meeting last Monday, and you know, I said to
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  Speaker 3: the councilor I've just felt so supported from the very
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  Speaker 3: first council meeting, which was in April two thousand and three,
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  Speaker 3: that the people the community were here for for the
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  Speaker 3: right reasons and you know, to support their children through
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  Speaker 3: their education and whatever it took, they were always there
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  Speaker 3: to help out. So I'd like to say a big
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  Speaker 3: thank you to the community. What a wonderful place. And
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  Speaker 3: some lucky person is going to be sitting in this
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  Speaker 3: chair the next January.
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  Speaker 2: Well they've got it's a hard act to follow. I've
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  Speaker 2: got to.
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  Speaker 3: Say, as I said before, Katie, you know that's that's
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  Speaker 3: lovely that people are saying such beautiful things in December.
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  Speaker 3: But then some great person will arrive in January and
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  Speaker 3: they'll say, now, who was the fellow? He was, good fellow.
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  Speaker 3: I'm going to have to write my name around the
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  Speaker 3: place though that people remember.
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  Speaker 1: I'm sure they'll remember well, mister Bree, lovely to talk
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  Speaker 1: to you this morning. I'm sure i'll see you around
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  Speaker 1: the place before you finish up. But a big congratulations
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  Speaker 1: on such a long and wonderful career.
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  Speaker 3: Thank you so much, Katie, thank you.
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  Speaker 2: I'll tell you what I know.
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  Speaker 1: There'll be plenty of people listening this morning who know
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  Speaker 1: mister Bree, who've either been school students in his school
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  Speaker 1: or been parents obviously to kids that go to Stuart Park.
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  Speaker 1: But wow, nineteen seventy nine is when he started as
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  Speaker 1: a school teacher.
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  Speaker 2: That is certainly a long and wonderful career.