Alumni and Supporters

Diploma of Teaching (Secondary) (1982)
Bachelor of Education (1987)
Master of Education (1996)

WA Secondary Principal of the Year 2021

Education is the best career path you can follow if you’re looking for a purpose in life, according to Mitch Mackay, who was awarded the title of WA Secondary Principal of the Year in 2021.

“Teaching can really offer a meaningful vocation and I believe there is no greater profession in terms of helping and supporting the next generation,” says the ECU graduate who has forged a highly successful career in teaching over the last four decades.

“What’s more, I really believe that teaching can give people a chance to develop their own life skills because there’s so many opportunities for self-growth. Yes, it can be tough and it has its ups and downs, but it’s a noble and honourable profession and I can honestly say that I absolutely relish going to work every single day.”

By his own admission, Mitch loved his own school years at Dianella Primary School and John Forrest Senior High School, though he admits to not being the perfect student.

“I was good academically though I remember being very outspoken when I saw injustice, and I certainly wasn’t perfectly behaved,” he recalls.

But Mitch was passionate enough about education and learning to initially begin a double degree in engineering at UWA, although he soon realised the course wasn’t for him.

“By that time I’d decided that teaching could be a real option because I loved working with people and felt that sitting at an office desk all day wasn’t going to work for me, so I switched to ECU where I was able to go straight into the second year of a Diploma of Teaching.

“The early 80s was a time when student teachers were encouraged to get straight into the workforce, so I was soon sent off to Mandurah which, as a surfer, was like going to heaven,” he laughs.

After completing his Diploma of Teaching (Secondary) in 1982, Mitch went back to ECU to undertake his Bachelor of Education in 1987, followed by his Master of Education in 1996.

“By the time I began my masters I had a passionate belief in what I was doing,” he says.

“Instead of listening to lectures and undertaking exams, we were encouraged to change the way we thought, something that has had a lasting impression on me, and which has ultimately shaped the way I conduct myself in the workplace. I absolutely came out of the course a different person.”

During his masters, Mitch was teaching at Greenwood High School but soon gained a promotion to become the head of mathematics at Thornley High School.

“Doing my masters contributed to that promotion, it really did expand my thinking and the consequence was that when I did go for my next role, I was able to talk confidently about leadership, management style and policy.”

Soon after, Mitch relocated to Bridgetown High School where he undertook his first deputy principal role for two years, before moving to Hamilton Senior High School and then going on to do a stint as the Manager of Operations at the regional education office in Fremantle.

From there he took an acting principal position at Leeming Senior High School before transitioning to Rossmore Senior High School where he was principal, and then to another principal’s position at John Curtin College of the Arts which, under his leadership, is now one of the top schools in WA.

It was while he was there that Mitch was nominated for and awarded the title of WA Secondary Principal of the Year, an accolade that he says he was surprised and humbled by.

“All of the finalists were great leaders and so I was really honoured to be given the award; it was wonderful to be acknowledged for the work I’d done not just as a good principal, but in terms of my contribution to education in schools across the state,” he says

“I have absolutely loved being a teacher, a principal and a leader in education, it has truly given my life immense purpose.  For me, it’s been about the journey, not the destination, and if I could I’d happily do it all over again.”