By Mikayla van Loon
Mooroolbark East Primary School (MEPS) has welcomed its new principal to the teaching staff, who has been settling in nicely over these first few weeks of term three.
Deborah Keating, a Mooroolbark local, made the change to teaching later in life having first started a career in horticultural research.
“When my own children were at school, I went and did some work in their school and absolutely fell in love with teaching,” she said.
“I love working with kids. I think they’re underestimated in their ability to achieve things. As a teacher and a principal, I love to see a child run with something or achieve something that is inspirational and you weren’t expecting.”
Beginning her teaching career at another school in Mooroolbark before heading off to Warburton and then Kinglake as principal, Ms Keating’s most recent position was as assistant principal at a primary school in Lysterfield.
“I had a real soft spot for the rural communities and I loved the rural communities. One thing I loved about them was the feeling of connectedness and that’s something, although Mooroolbark East is a big school, it definitely has that feeling,” she said.
With just over 600 students in total, Ms Keating said it is quite amazing just how much of a family-like feel the school has and how welcomed she has felt in just a small amount of time.
When the opportunity came up to apply for the principal role, Ms Keating said having lived in the area for 16 years, she’d heard of the great reputation MEPS has and decided it was a place she wanted to be a part of and lead.
Excited about giving every student the opportunity to succeed and excel in whatever capacity they can is something Ms Keating is looking forward to about her new role.
“It’s a philosophy of mine that you never give up on a child, regardless of situation or disability and just helping every child in the school to reach their potential,” Ms Keating said.
“I’m very passionate about all children having the opportunity to be their best and excel, regardless of situation or place. I have a very strong passion for disability inclusion and students with disability having exactly the same opportunities to be their best.”
Knowing that moving forward with education after the pandemic lockdowns a huge focus will need to be on student wellbeing and connection, Ms Keating said that will help students feel confident in their learning once again.
Coming from a horticulture background, Ms Keating said she is quite passionate about science and sustainability, programs she hopes to boost within the school.
Ms Keating’s passions however, also extend to art and painting, AFL, fishing and her much loved 15 month old Gordon Setter puppy, which contribute to her own wellbeing.
While still finding her feet a little bit, Ms Keating said she can’t wait to be a part of seeing her students and staff achieve their goals and reach their full potential.
