Executive

I have been an Area School Principal for over twenty years, I previously had nine years of leadership experience in public metro schools and have been an acting Regional Director across two country portfolios. I have been involved with the SAASLA Exec for most of my time in Area Schools and have previously held the President and Vice President roles. I have a particular interest in HR, ICT and Curriculum Development. I grew up in the country and have raised my own children in the country, I have a passion for supporting and improving outcomes for country students, schools and communities.

I have spent all of my teaching career in rural SA, apart from 18months in Katherine, NT. The majority of my time has been in Area Schools with extensive experience in the Area School Deputy Principal role and Principal role in recent years in both Aboriginal and Area Schools.  I love that I am able to learn with and from others who experience the same challenges and joys of our unique settings.

I have been involved as a teacher, leader and parent in area schools for 25 years and spent all of my teaching career in rural and remote locations. I am currently the principal of Kangaroo Inn Area School which is a small Preschool to Year 12 school in the south east of SA.   Ensuring equity of opportunity, a variety of experiences for our children and quality teaching and learning environments is my passion and I have worked tirelessly to achieve this in our school and supporting other schools in their endeavours.  I acknowledge the challenges small area schools face but also the exciting opportunities these schools provide for children and their families and look forward to working with SAASLA to achieve this.

Long term member of SAASLA – served for over 30 years – Served in Area School leadership roles or site leader since 1994.  Passionate about Rural education and the provision of high quality teachers and leaders to promote rural education best outcomes. Volunteer for the annual Best Practice Awards working party for a decade, also served  on past SACE  working party  and Finance review team with the Department. My previous Principal role at Carlton B-9 Aboriginal School enables me to bring an Aboriginal Schools perspective to the Executive.

I have been in leadership for close to 20 years and a Principal since May 2017 at Hawker Area School, a small area school of around 45 students. My focus’ as a leader at SAASLA are to get a better understanding of the challenges and complications that face leaders of very small area schools, and to improve access to ICT for isolated schools to help improve access to learning opportunities for teachers and students in these locations.

My name is Maurice Saah and currently the principal of Coober Pedy Area School. This is my 9th year as a principal and most of my leadership work has been in remote/country locations in SA. I am very passionate about country education as I believe that, children no matter where they are should be exposed to quality teaching and learning opportunities. My work and association with SAASLA is built on and identifies with the mantra that “Distance and Isolation should never be a barrier to excellent student outcomes”. It is a great privilege to be part of the executive of SAASLA and I look forward to working with you all.