Community
5 February, 2025
Narelle Holliday embraces principal role
NARELLE Holliday will lead an expanded staff after officially being named principal of Cobden Technical School.
Mrs Holliday was named interim principal in May 2023 following the departure of Rohan Keert, but from this year has accepted the formal role.
She said she was excited for the opportunity as she has a strong belief in what can be accomplished through the school’s emphasis on practical learning.
“I’m excited and looking forward to a great year with all the students coming back,” she said.
“I wanted to be here because I have a connection with the community and the students.
“I came from a trade background, so I saw this as a good opportunity to help the students at Cobden Tech pursue the trade careers they want to achieve while also embracing the academic side of things.
“Students have a variety of pathways at Cobden Tech, and each of those pathways can lead to success.
“I hope students are comfortable and confident when they come to school, but that they also get the skills and experiences they need to be successful once they transition from school in to further tertiary studies or in to the workforce.”
Mrs Holliday had been a chef in the Cobden area during the 90s before making the transition to become an education support officer at Terang College.
From there, she worked through the ranks after seeing the positive impact practical learning – the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL) but is now the Victorian Certificate of Education Vocational Major (VCE VM) – was having on students in the region
“The students from this area needed that course to see them grow to success as tradesmen and women in non-traditional trades,” Mrs Holliday said.
“I began pursuing teaching for that – I worked in regional areas with VCAL as the quality assurance liaison for 10 years, and helped all the schools in the region implement successful VCAL programs.
“I came to Cobden Tech as the lead curriculum teacher in 2022.”
Mrs Holliday will also be leading an expanded staff, with four new faces joining the school from this year – two teachers (Stacey Gladman and Vanessa Leeson), a wellbeing coordinator (Kayla Horan) and a disability inclusion coordinator (Sharon Cotton).
“We’re one of the last regions in the state to have disability inclusion, so we’ve now got new staff to support that,” she said.
“We’ve got new graduate teachers – it’s always good to have new graduate teachers, especially those who have come from industry, which is most of our staff.
“They’re really positive role models for our students and everyone is settling in well.”
Among the new staff joining Cobden Technical School this year is Year 7 and 12 graduate teacher Stacey Gladman.
Ms Gladman is no stranger to the community, having made the switch to teaching after spending the past 15 years as a senior journalist for the Cobden Timboon Coast Times.
“I have wanted to get in to teaching for a number of years but there’s always been blocks in the way such as doing placements and being able to commit time, which is hard when you have a full-time job,” she said.
“But with the Victorian Government support at the moment, it’s become more of a possibility to do that, so I’m excited for the change.
“It’s been a good transition so far – last year I did three weeks placement at Cobden Tech so I’m already familiar with the school.
“Through my involvement with the community and the newspaper, I had got to know many of the students and staff, so I’m excited for what’s ahead – there’s a lot of exciting things happening at the school.”
Vanessa Leeson has also joined the school as a graduate teacher teaching Years 7-8 Maths and Digital Technology.
She had originally lived in Werribee but moved to the region to be closer to family.
Now settled with her husband and three kids in Cobden, a community they “absolutely love,” she saw the COVID-19 pandemic as an opportunity to make the jump to teaching.
“Ever since I left school I have worked in some form of education, including in a school office, but I had kids and that became my priority,” she said.
“When I went back in to the workforce I worked for an education and wellbeing consultancy company doing digital and social media.
“When COVID-19 hit, it worked out I wanted to do something sustainable and decided to give it a go.”
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