ON THE BLOCK
SCHOOLS WELCOME LEADERS
FOR the Gold Coast’s newest foundation principal Kym Amor, working at Coomera’s latest high school is already a 24/7 job.
Announced early last year as principal of the soon-toopen Foxwell State Secondary College, Ms Amor has spent every day since watching the campus grow from a sloped patch of dirt into a multi-million-dollar education facility.
With just days to go, she can’t wait to welcome her students.
Having worked at some of the region’s most prestigious public schools, Ms Amor’s new purpose is clear – she doesn’t just want to lead a new school, she wants to create one.
“I don’t see it as a negative pressure. It is the busiest but probably most energised I have ever been in my career,” Ms Amor said.
“You don’t switch off or have a day off, but that doesn’t bother me because every day is exciting.
“When you love your job you actually don’t mind being at work. It is something I am completely passionate about.”
Working as an educator for more than 22 years, most recently at Brisbane’s Mansfield State School, Ms Amor is vehemently against a one-size-fits-all model for learning.
“I don’t believe children should be sitting in rows being taught the same thing,” she said.
“I believe in that personalised education and looking at the skills children will need for the future.”
To develop the modern campus, Ms Amor has been working alongside the school’s all-female leadership team and parents of future students.
“You get a lot of freedom and a lot of autonomy to create, but listening to the community, they want to do something different and personally cater for every student, making sure they can make a difference in the community and globally,” she said.
True to her word, the school will offer four specialist excellence programs developed by the Foxwell teaching team.
These include an advanced learning program for academic students, Creative Voices, which has been designed to accelerate students in music, drama, and as future advocates in public speaking.
Sporting Minds, a sports program to develop physical, mental, social and emotional potential of high-performing athletes, will offer additions like legal and media training.
G-Stem will promote science, technology, engineering and maths for female students, linking them with female role models in industry.
“We are a world of opportunity. No matter what the child wants to do, we will find and outreach for that,” she said.