Natalie Grieve on striving to make an impact as a Principal

“I might have over 20 years in education, but every day is still a learning day.”

Natalie Grieve, Principal of Mount Waverly North Primary School gives us an insight into how she strives to make an impact not only on her students, but staff, communities and across networks as well. As a Network Chair, Natalie works to facilitate the high performance of other schools as well as her own, guided by the mentoring and tools provided by The Academy.

Transcript

My name's Natalie Grieve and I'm principal at Mount Waverley North Primary School. I've been here for the last seven years and enjoyed every moment. The inspiration to be in school leadership for myself came from being an excellent classroom teacher. I loved working with children, but as my leadership grew within school settings, I really wanted to have an impact on others. So it's much more than just the students. I wanted to have an impact on staff, communities and across networks. So as a network chair, I'm not just leading one school and facilitating the high performance of other schools within the network. For me, that's been a real learning curve. It's about building the right culture and climate where teachers want to grow and being able to give them those opportunities. It's something that I thoroughly enjoy doing and I wouldn't have been able to do that without the training, the mentors, the contacts I've got through the Victorian Academy, teaching and leadership. For me, I'm still learning. It doesn't stop. I might have over 20 plus years in education but everyday still learning day. No two days are the same and every skill that I need changes as society changes. As we move forward in the world, we are all striving to improve not just student outcomes, but our overall educational experiences that we can provide parents and families.