Yesterday I sat on an early morning flight out of Maroochydore on my way back to my farm in Boorolite. The day before I had flown up to Coolum for the funeral service for my first deputy and wonderful friend Chris Eldridge who had sadly passed away a few days before. In my 30 years at St Philips, I only had two deputies, both called Chris and both of the highest caliber. I was lucky to be able to appoint them both because the best outcome for a Principal and for the school is if the two leaders can work in close harmony - not doing the same things but being definitely on the same page.

Chris and I started work at Maryborough Christian Community College in Country Victoria in January 1979 and quickly struck up a close relationship. We both were given year 9 classes and taught in neighboring rooms. We both had strong opinions about teaching. Chris was a gifted teacher and highly committed staff member, fully engaged in what the school was trying to achieve. Maryborough was a country community and we both became involved in sport, opening the bowling together for a local cricket club. Chris was a colourful teacher and had a terrific capacity to relate to students and was magic with the “naughty” ones. Kids easily liked but respected him. We tackled many projects together from sport, to Outdoor ED, camping, producing musicals amongst many others.

On getting the position at St Philips, which was a Residential College for Outback Kids in those days, giving them the opportunity for an education out of isolation and in Alice where more educational opportunities were on offer. The College had experienced its challenges and I had no illusions that running it was certainly going to be a tough “gig”.

If I was to make a difference I needed the best deputy: hardworking, dedicated, gifted with kids including difficult kids, respected by staff and parents and a passion to make a difference to the lives of the children. There was no better person to work with me than Chris. He was married at that stage and had a baby son. Coming to Alice was a tough challenge - I offered him the job and he accepted. We had known each other for 7 years though one of these he spent in Adelaide getting a Graduate Diploma in special ED, a career he followed for years after Alice.

And so we tackled St Philips together, engendering enthusiasm, upgrading routines, all the while spending time searching for ways to improve the College. It didn’t take long for us to come up with the possibility of adding a transition school where bush kids could come, learn the ropes of boarding, relate to others, make friends, and become comfortable learning in a normal classroom rather than a more isolated environment.

This idea was embraced enthusiastically by the Chair, the Council, and the NT Government. Chair was “full steam ahead” on it, so much so that it quickly morphed into establishing a day/boarding school. This was about two months after we arrived. We ran the College in its present form - heaps of work- and also tacked the massive task of building a school. In the third year Chris took over running St Philips while I undertook the role of “Planning Principal”. Chris was committed, as was often the case in those days, to three years, but stayed on with his family of four for a further six months in 1989 to help launch the school. His contribution to this, as in the previous three years, was absolutely brilliant, helping set in place systems, expectations and the most important thing the Culture of the College. Chris was not only legendary with the 147 new day students which included some of the 80+ boarders. For over half of the boarders continued to attend other schools in town.

This offering of boarding and attending other schools was part of the charter of St Philips in its mission of providing educational opportunities to isolated children.

Chris’s funeral service was a fine tribute to a terrific person who valued loyalty, hard work, vision, teaching and service with an emphasis on truly caring for students and modelling a positive approach to life. In those heady years of the second half of the 1980s in the NT, with the development of independent schooling, Chris made a significant contribution. He was a great man.

I share this with you because, if you are able to have a deputy, and I know some of our schools aren’t, getting the right one is so vitally important. I do know of Principals who were not as lucky with their deputies. It is not an easy position to tackle as some of you who have been deputies will know. And the job description will vary with the school. A person may be the right deputy in one school, go to another and simple not fit. In this case the deputy may become a liability to the Principal and a source of friction or awkwardness which undermines a pleasant working relationship. After my ideal relationship with Chris Eldridge I was nervous about the next appointment and interviewed a number of candidates from around Australia. The responses to the first ad and subsequent interviews, were not what I wanted, so we waited and advertised again. More interviews, until I had a late night one with Chris Leesong and he was definitely the right person. The Council left the decision up to me which I think is the best way to go. I was without a deputy for a year and I vowed I would never do that again particularly in a busy, dynamic day/ boarding school. At that time my brother was a relatively new head of a school in Victoria. I rang him and complained that I didn’t have a deputy. His reply: “Well that’s too bad, neither do I”? You see good deputies were hard to come by. However he also managed to get a good one eventually.

Some important characteristics of a good deputy.

Must be prepared to work with and support you and the school’s philosophy.

Should not be a yes person but be prepared to have an opinion.

Should be seen by staff as a really good teacher.

Must be a good and thorough organizer.

Relate well to students, staff and parents.

Be good at resolving conflict.

Be active and happy to be around the school regularly.

Have a positive personality.

Must present well and be top ambassador for the school.

Present A1 when addressing the school, parents, and staff.

Be really good at dealing with difficult students.

Be good at whatever specific jobs you want to give them. However, like most people they won’t be good at everything.

They must be “rock solid” in a crisis.

Your deputy may need to run the school for a day, a week, a month or maybe 4 - you may have long service, attend a conference, or unfortunately suffer an illness.

Remember they must be really good at public relations and be “marketable”. Parents should be happy.

You could probably add to this list.

If your deputy is the right one for you they will make a huge difference to you and the school. Don’t ever make an appointment because they were the best of a mediocre bunch and you didn’t want to advertise again. I’m so surprised when I hear this happening. Take time, do without, even though that it is hard, and get it right!

I hope some of these quotes are useful.

“The moral is obvious. It is that great armaments lead inevitably to war.”

- Colonel Sir Ernest Edward “Weary” Dunlop was an Australian surgeon renowned for his strong leadership while being a prisoner of war of the Japanese, World War 2.

“To my mind, having a care and concern for others is the highest of the human qualities”. “When I’ve seen an opportunity, I haven’t sat down and called a committee meeting. We’ve gone and done it”.

- Fred Hollows AC was a New Zealand - Australian ophthalmologist who was famous for his work in restoring eyesight for people in Australia and overseas.

 “Have no fear of perfection; you’ll never reach it.”

- Marie Curie was a Polish - French physicist who discovered polonium and radium, championed the use of radiation in medicine and fundamentally changed our understanding of radioactivity. She was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.

“If you don’t risk anything you risk even more”.

- Erica Jong is an American satirist and poet.

“One of the secrets of staying young is to always do things you don’t know how to do to keep learning”

- Ruth Reichl is an American chef, food writer and editor.

“Always be more than you appear and never appear more than you are” “Am I doing something because it is right or simply because it is possible”? “Surprise yourself with what is possible”.

- Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany 2005-2021.

“Democracy has the power to quickly spread. But its erosion can happen just as fast. Democracy is freedom. We need to stand up for it”

- Ursula von der Leyden President of the European Commission.

“Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible”. “Whoever works with their hands is a labourer. Whoever works with their hands and head is a craftsman. Whoever works with their hands and head and heart is an artist”.

- Francis of Assisi was the son of a wealthy Italian cloth merchant who lived in the thirteenth century. He grew up to be a spirited worldly leader. He fought in two wars and served twelve months as a prisoner. He then had a vision that directed him back to Assisi where he lived a life of poverty as a friar and founded the Franciscan order.

Written By Chris Tudor