St Martin’s Catholic School in Davidson was delighted to welcome Adrian Pulley as the new Principal at the beginning of this year.
After all, Mr Pulley has lived locally for sixteen years, his wife Alethea attended the school as a child, and his mother-in-law was the Assistant Principal many years ago.
“My kids were baptised in this parish and my wife’s family has a long history in this area,” said Mr Pulley. “I am very keen to contribute and give back to my community.”
Mr Pulley attended Catholic schools in his native New Zealand before moving to Australia sixteen years ago.
“The Catholic school system nurtured me as a child and worked together with my parents to instil values in me which shaped the person I have become,” he said.
After eleven years in teaching and management roles in Catholic schools across the Diocese of Broken Bay, Mr Pulley was drawn to St Martin’s because of its outstanding reputation and passionate staff.
“The fact that it’s a growing school with a great group of core teachers and a very supportive community of involved parents really appealed to me.”
The school is flanked by national park on two sides and has sprawling grounds, Mr Pulley said.
“It’s a beautiful space and the children have plenty of space to roam about,” he said. “We also have a new state-of-the-art library and a kindergarten classroom which has been designed to engage children in play-based learning.”
Mr Pulley said that the small school was able to be flexible and provide tailored learning for each individual child.
“We’re not bound by the linear way of looking at classes and we’ve got opportunities to get like-minded children together in project-based learning,” he said, adding that this gave students an opportunity to socialise with different age groups.
“In a bigger school the students really only associate with the children in their grade, whereas here all the teachers know every child.”
A keen musician with his folk band The Richest Men In Town, Mr Pulley is also passionate about increasing the musical and artistic opportunities for students at the school.