By Raquel Mustillo
MILLICENT High principal John Shelton will soon have his final day of school, with the long-serving educator retiring later this year after a 23-year tenure at the helm.
Mr Shelton, who has been an assistant principal and principal at the school for more than two decades, will end his 41-year teaching career at the end of December.
The school leader said he was prompted to retire following a “really good external review” of Millicent High, which showed high performance and student achievement.
“The external review, which happens every few years, showed the school is in a really good place and I thought ‘well, now is not a bad time to step away’,” Mr Shelton said.
“In the last few years, we have had a real change in culture, improvement and staff collaboration, with a focus on what we are doing, what is our plan for improvement and what works in terms of performance and training.
“The school and students are doing really well and I think is a good time to let someone else have a crack at my role.”
Mr Shelton started as principal in 2015, building on six years as assistant principal at the school, and 44 years in total as an educator and leader in the public school system.
He starter his teaching career at the former railway town of Cook in the Nullarbor, before moving to Streaky Bay to take on teaching and co-coordinator roles.
After 10 years on the Eyre Peninsula, Mr Shelton moved to the Limestone Coast after winning a teaching and coordinator position at Kangaroo Inn Area School.
“When the assistant principal job at Millicent High came up, I applied because I needed to do something a bit different and a bit more challenging.”
Mr Shelton said a majority of his work in the previous five years centred around staff attraction and retention, with the school’s leadership group and teachers working closely with students.
“It was great to work in the school because of the kids, but I really changed my emphasis to staff in later years because if I don’t get the staff doing what they need to be doing, the kids don’t get what they need,” he said.
“I have been thinking about how much I am going to miss the people, and I am probably going to miss the staff more than the kids.”
Mr Shelton plans to spent his retirement travelling with his wife Allie, who recently retired from her position at the school at the end of Term 3.
“I’ll probably take Allie up to Cook to show her where I had my first teaching placement,” he said.
“It’s hard to believe that was 44 years ago – it only seems like yesterday that I was driving down the road to Cook.”
Mr Shelton will be succeeded by Millicent High’s senior school leader Todd Watson.
