Cobar High School has welcomed a new deputy principal with Megan Bond taking on the role last week.
Ms Bond, from North Avoca, spent 2019 at Barham High School on the Murray River after applying for a Department of Education Rural Experience Program.
“They take you out of your normal job and put you in a western division school for the year so you can see what it was like to live and work in small country towns,” Ms Bond explained.
“It’s a one year posting to encourage teachers to come and work out west.”
Before Barham, Ms Bond was head teacher of Technology and Applied Science at St Ives High School on Sydney’s North Shore.
“Because I enjoyed the rural experience I applied for the permanent position in Cobar.
“The Rural Experience Program made me think I didn’t want to work in Sydney anymore,” Ms Bond said.
Ms Bond said she doesn’t plan on implementing any changes at the school just yet.
“I just want to come in first and get to know the systems that are in place here, get to know the students and parents.”
Ms Bond says she likes to keep active by walking and swimming.
“Everyone has been really welcoming, I’m really enjoying Cobar but still acclimatising to the weather.”
The school also welcomed a new visual arts teacher this year with Moreno Pazin making the move to Cobar High from Sydney.
Mr Pazin has taught in a number of schools and colleges in NSW and Queensland and is a trained secondary visual arts, visual design and Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) teacher.
“I hope to engage the students with the programs and activities which best suit their abilities, interests and needs while challenging their creative boundaries,” Mr Pazin said.