Holy Trinity Primary School’s current principal Paul Jenkins and the curriculum coordinator Kym Willis, will move to Henschke becoming the first in Wagga’s Catholic Diocese to appoint a shared principalship. 

Henschke is twice the size of Holy Trinity and Mr Jenkins said the Diocese is trialing two principals as the role has extended. 

With 25 years of teaching under his belt and 17 years as a school principal, Mr Jenkins is excited for his new position and sharing it alongside his colleague Mrs Willis. 

“This will be my third school as a principal and I’m a big believer of moving on after seven to 10 years,” he said.

“I was principal at St Michael’s Primary School in Coolamon for seven years and then 10 years at Trinity, and I’m really excited about this new position.

“Holy Trinity has been a great school and I’m really excited to follow the legacy of Michael Jones, we have big shoes to fill, but I also know we can bring something different to the school. 

“This shared position will hopefully allow us to bring new and different initiatives to the school as well as supporting all the great things that are already happening,” he said.

For Mrs Willis, becoming head of the school will be a new phase in her career.

“This role is a very exciting opportunity to work with Paul at a new school and working with the Henschke community and the culture Michael Jones has created there,” she said. 

“We’re hoping that we can work with Henschke as a team, building together what is already there and building on great initiative to continue the journey to a new school.” 

A spokesperson from the Catholic Education Diocese of Wagga said they hope this model will support the school community to continue to meet the needs of the new educational era. 

“The co-principal model responds to the modern challenges of this critical role,” the spokesperson said. 

“By sharing leadership at this level the " principal" now becomes more accessible, can respond more quickly to teachers, parents and students and create time for instructional responsibilities including classroom visits and modelling best practice teaching and learning approaches.”

After more than 40 years of teaching, Henschke’s current principal Michael Jones will be moving on at the end of the year.