For 22 years his car has automatically driven to Somerville Intermediate. But now it’s time to find a different route.
David Ellery, founding principal of Somerville Intermediate is due to retire at the end of term 1 on April 12. And he’s not sure if his car will still head to the old address that he has known for more than two decades.
“It will be an emotional time since the ties with the school have been right from the time the excavation work had started at the proposed school site,” he says.
“I have worked with architects and set up systems for the school. We started on a Thursday with just 205 kids and now we have 950 students.
“We’ve had over 10,000 children go through the gates of this school and I’d like to think that we have helped the kids through their life’s journey.”
About his own journey onwards Ellery says now that all the ducks are in a row and the school is in a really good place with great staff, resource, supportive community and plenty of projects in the pipeline, it’s time for someone else to pick it up and take it to the next level.
“I will turn 60 in April, and I believe there comes a time in people’s lives when they need a new challenge.”
Heading in a new direction, he says he is excited to work just two days a week with an education consultancy.
“I have learnt a few things over the years and will be helping in mentoring and coaching principals as well as help them with strategic and change management and doing principal’s appraisals.
“In the last few years there has been a big turnover of principals nationwide and that will continue for a while with more changes coming in with Tomorrow’s Schools reform. New principals can benefit a lot from coaching,” says Ellery.
“I will take with me a special memory of working with amazing support from the community, professionals, colleagues, great bunch of teachers, staff and students at Somerville Intermediate.”
As we go to press it has been announced that Yolande Franke award winning principal of Howick Intermediate and the former deputy principal of Somerville Intermediate has been appointed as principal of Somerville Intermediate.
