Ms Walsh started as the acting principal of Kyabram P-12 College, which has 950 students and 120 staff, just over 12 months ago.
The Kyabram P-12 College council has now appointed her as the substantive principal, and she will be at the school for the next five years.
“I’m really thankful that they [council] appointed me back, and thankful that they selected me, and I feel really honoured to be the principal at this school,” Ms Walsh said.
Ms Walsh, originally from the Mornington Peninsula, attended university in Ballarat and went on to become a physical education and math teacher.
She was assistant principal at Mordialloc College, a Year 7 to 12 education facility with 1300 students in Melbourne’s south-east, for four years.
However, Ms Walsh has always been drawn to the country, so when the opportunity to become the interim principal at the P-12 college in Kyabram came up, she took it and moved in January 2023.
“I like the community feel and how you can get involved in lots of different things within the community – I like Ky for that reason,” she said.
Ms Walsh and her husband — who works in Echuca — bought a house at the end of last year and she said finally feels settled, not just in Kyabram, but in her position.
Ms Walsh and her staff started developing a “school-wide positive behaviour support framework” last year, which launched at the beginning of the 2024 school year.
She highlighted the importance of strengthening the connection between the school and the kindergarten now on-site at Kyabram P-12 College and easing the fluid transition of students between year levels, helping senior students prepare for the future.
“It’s nice to be able to know that I’m in it for the long haul and I can become that consistent person for our families,” she said.
The new principal has seen the school through a few changes, including the construction of new buildings, including the wellbeing centre, which opened in the fourth term last year.
“Being able to see the school, prepare for the building, and now settle in, it’s really nice — we now just have to organise some landscaping,” Ms Walsh said.
Looking into the future, aside from landscaping, proactivity is the word on Ms Walsh’s mind; always looking forward and finding what suits the students at P-12 College.
“Students are always number one for me,” she said.
“Whenever we come up with new programs, whenever we consider excursions, camps, or anything like that, is always about what the students will get out of it?
“I want our students, when they leave school, to feel like they're ready for the world, for the workplace, for adventures, and be really positive contributors to the community.”
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