Vanuatu Principal Development Program

The Vanuatu Principal Development Program is a partnership between the Vanuatu Ministry of Education and Training, LDS Charities, Pacific Assist, and Huddle Learning Systems. 

The purpose of the program is to establish a professional mentor relationship between Victorian based principals and principals in Port Vila, Vanuatu. In addition, principals in Vanuatu will receive access to a range of other professional development resources including workshops, podcasts, and literature. Mentoring and resource content will be built around school leadership issues such as:

• Leading learning and teaching
• Leading community and learning
• Leading professional development
• Assessment and accountability (evidence based practice)

Justin Esler, PASS member and the Principal of Diamond Valley Special Developmental School has been invited to participate in the program and has been asked to mentor David Narai Nelou, Principal of the Seaside Presbyterian Community School in Port Vila, Vanuatu.

Some of the key challenges that David faces at the Seaside Presbyterian Community School include the need for policy development, the development of communication structures throughout the school and broader community, providing professional development opportunities for staff and developing a team approach for all staff at the school.

With a background as in developing teams and establishing evidence based Child Centered Learning approaches, Justin is confident that he can support David, “David is a dedicated and hardworking principal facing challenges that we couldn’t comprehend back here in Australia.  I know that through our collaboration with each other, David and I will both share in the learning journey.”

Justin is hoping that one day that he will be able to meet David in person but for the time being they are both excited to be communicating through Skype, email and phone calls.

You can find more out about the work Pacific Assist do through their website http://pacificassist.org.