Valerie Thompson

Every day Ms.Valerie is able to make a positive impact on the lives & futures of so many students & staff.  She never felt ‘amazing’ as a person, but the job certainly is, as is the opportunity to create, through the WSS team, an extraordinary learning environment for her students, teachers & parents.  

Being a Principal is a blessing, & a huge responsibility. It is not only the overarching vision that a Principal shares that makes a difference, but also through the little gestures & consistent modelling of the values & standards we want to instill. From first thing in the morning when we greet our children, parents & staff at the gate with a smile & a ‘Good morning’ we reinforce a caring, success-orientated culture, We notice smart uniform, manners, a new haircut, a project to admire & reward, the shy child who for the first time has the confidence to greet us, a guest needing guidance, recounts Ms.Valerie.

 The culture that we create through our behaviours that model the universal values of respect & care filters through the school community & is reflected back by happy, responsible children, teachers committed to their ongoing professional learning, Support Staff who go ‘the extra mile’ & parents who are positively engaged  in the school’s learning community. Principals are everything & nothing, responsible for each piece of the puzzle, but the puzzle is actually completed by the pieces themselves.

She was the Founding Principal when WSS opened in 2012 with just 600 students.  Today the school has a community of over 3,000. The dynamic developmental journey is ongoing, challenging, inspiring.  The strong, committed partnerships enable all to continually learn and grow as professionals, so that the school goes above & beyond to meet the students’ needs, overcome mistakes, improve students’ learning experience & achieve the motto, ‘Excellence Through Teamwork, Success For All’.