After 26 years working with the Department of Education, Stacey Exner is embarking on a new challenge having been recently appointed as executive principal of Dubbo College.
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Mrs Exner, a College staff member since its inception, is focused on collaboration and team work to ensure the school continues to meet existing and emerging community needs.
“Dubbo College is well equipped to meet the growing needs of our students, with top quality staff on board and strong tertiary education, business and community links,” she said.
“My role will be to further increase the capacity of the College to provide opportunities for students, making this school a first preference for Dubbo families.
“Dubbo College offers one of the most extensive curriculums throughout the state and works to support the individual needs of students throughout this community.
“We work closely with Aboriginal Elders and the AECG to provide specialised support to Indigenous students and Dubbo College is proud to have the boy’s Clontarf program and the Aboriginal Girls’ Academy operating at all three of our campuses.
“Last year a record 58 Aboriginal HSC students graduated, a 21 per cent increase on total graduates from the previous year.”
Mrs Exner is well known at Dubbo College, having worked her way through the teaching ranks to deputy principal at Senior Campus and then principal at Delroy Campus.
“My move to Dubbo actually came in 1995 when I took up a position with a very vibrant PDHPE faculty at Dubbo South High School,” she said.
“I became head teacher the following year and had a lot to do with the NSW PDHPE association, helping to organise the state conference in Dubbo.
“I have also been actively involved for a long period in Dubbo netball and have coached several teams over the years.”
From 2003 Mrs Exner took over the role of deputy principal at Senior Campus and in 2011 was appointed principal at Delroy Campus.
During her time as principal at Delroy, the school halved the number of suspensions and saw a three-fold improvement in NAPLAN results from Year 7 to Year 9, with a subsequent and continuing increase in enrollments.
It was just as Mrs Exner was taking a year-long break from this role when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and plunged into a year-long battle to beat the disease.
“Thankfully I am back in full health and I know this is a privilege so I am a strong advocate for breast checks and mammograms,” she said.
“I was only 47 when I was diagnosed and it was really the last thing on my mind at the time so I would urge women who are eligible to get that mammogram.”
Stacey, who is American by birth, grew up in Canberra where a school collegiate system has been in place for many years.
Her first teaching appointment as a targeted graduate was to a junior campus in the ACT, where she gained extensive experience and mentoring from supportive senior staff.
“When the college structure was initiated in Dubbo it was a fairly seamless transition for me because I was used to the same structure in Canberra,” she said.
“The College has come a long way since it began in 2000 and there is now a real sense that the three campuses are all working towards the same goals.
“We have worked hard on collaboration and team work during the past six years and I am really proud of the cohesive network we have established.
“Our focus is now on professional learning for our staff who are determined to make their classroom practice the very best that it can be, helping to produce students ready to tackle a positive and rewarding future.”