New principal for TAS
A former engineer and passionate maths and science teacher, Paul Sjogren is the new principal of Trinity Anglican School.
DON’T expect the new principal of Trinity Anglican School to remain tucked away in an office all day – far from the real action of the classrooms.
A former engineer and passionate maths and science teacher, Paul Sjogren is a firm believer in the idea of teaching principals.
Commissioned yesterday as the eighth principal of Trinity Anglican School since it was founded in 1983, he wants to follow the lead of his past two principals at St Andrew’s Anglican College on the Sunshine Coast and Whitsunday Anglican School in Mackay.
“I feel strongly that a principal needs to be in the classroom, otherwise how can you possibly empathise with other staff members’ experience,” Mr Sjogren said.
He said the classroom contact also allowed a principal “to keep that authenticity with the kids – otherwise you become a CEO”.
While Mr Sjogren won’t slot himself permanently into a timetable while trying to manage 800 students across two campuses in Cairns, he will begin with a Year 12 QCS class next week to help students prepare for the Queensland Core Skills test later in the year.
“We’re going to do a bunch of stuff – multiple choice, short response tasks, some higher order thinking skills, puzzles, mental gymnastics,” he said.
As deputy principal of St Andrew’s Anglican College in Peregian Springs until last year, he taught Year 10 maths and Year 12 QCS.
“Mathematics is my passion,” says the University of Melbourne graduate, who practised as a civil engineer before retraining as a teacher.
“I love the order of mathematics. Mathematics is a language of physics and physics explains the physical world to us – so physics can explain everything.”
Mr Sjogren said his love of maths was matched by his love of teaching.
“Teaching’s a very relational career. It’s all about people. Even though I love the techni- cal side of things, being part of students’ and staff and parents’ lives and watching them as they go through that journey is incredibly interesting.
“There is never a dull moment in teaching.”
Mr Sjogren is keen to build on TAS’s strength in the areas of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).
“TAS has a great tradition of getting girls involved in STEM subjects. I see that as even more important as we look at the genderisation of different career paths,” he said.
“I love to see girls being engineers, doing mathematics degrees and getting involved in what are considered the harder subjects.”