Mr. Aaron Chaplin

Aaron Chaplin is only 23 but has proved that he is a capable and rewarding teacher.

HONOURED: The Nungarin community honoured Bill Hewitt and Aaron Chaplin with the Premier's Australia Day Active Citizen Awards for their outstanding achievements.
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Nungarin Primary School Principal Aaron Chaplin and Nungarin Heritage Machinery and Army Museum Chairman Bill Hewitt were the two men worthy of the award.
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Mr Chaplin received his award in the person under 25 years category.

He is the youngest acting principal in the nation.
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Mr Chaplin volunteers his time to help the children and parents and citizens raise money for the school.

Additionally, he was involved in the Clean Up Australia project, is Treasurer of the Nungarin Community Development Group, supervises the running of the student council stall at every Wheatbelt markets, is actively involved in the Mangowine Concert Committee and has taken on the role as public relations officer for this event.

He is a member of the Nungarin Heritage Machinery and Army Museum and is involved in the local Emergency Management Committee.

GOOD PRINCIPALS: The youngest Australian principal Aaron Chaplin at Nungarin Primary School with Mitchell Holland and Tabatha Carr (rear).
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Aaron Chaplin is only 23 but has proved that he is a capable and rewarding teacher.

In late 2004, Mr Chaplin applied for the position as principal at Nungarin Primary even though he had plans of teaching in Karratha.

When the job was offered to him he jumped at the opportunity to manage the school.

Mr Chaplin said he was amazed at being the youngest principal in Australia and noted it was impossible to be any younger.

"It's a bit daunting and you don't want the only acknowledgement to be that I'm young," he said.

"I want to achieve more in my job than just being young."

When asked about the school he said, "it's small but fantastic.There's no excuse for not knowing every kid.
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Mr Chaplin's aims for the school include improving the school's facilities for the students and to improve literacy and mathematic standards.

In addition, he is pushing for the implementation of '52 values' which encourage students to value feelings such as love, compassion and courage as well as improving their ideas on assertiveness, tolerance, unity and co-operation just to mention a few.

Mr Chaplin also has the luxury of teaching kindergarten, junior and senior classes once a week as well as manning the helm of the school.

While completing a Bachelor of Education at Murdoch University, he was approached by the Department of Education and posted to Mount Magnet where he taught at four schools in the area.

From the kindergarten age to Year 10, he taught full time for one term while finishing his degree externally.

His work was so good that he was soon sent to South Headland Primary School where he taught for two years.

Two of those years he taught Years 2 and 3 and then spent the next two years teaching Year 1s.

He said, "it's pretty difficult to find a male year one teacher, it's very rare."

His achievement at this school included the creation of two school choirs and he was also in charge of the school's pastoral care and policies.

While in South Headland Mr Chaplin became extremely interested in early childhood studies and as a result he undertook a Postgraduate Certificate in Early Childhood Studies at Murdoch University.

This endeavour was also undertaken externally in 2004 while teaching the Year 1s at South Headland.

Another achievement while at South Headland was managing a class that was primarily made up of Indigenous students with English being their second language.

To overcome this obstacle, Mr Chaplin was involved in a pilot program called "ABC Two-Way".

The program involved working closely with the community, using Indigenous staff and other schools to improve student achievement in literacy.

Mr Chaplin's reason for becoming a teacher stemmed from his belief in the public education system and that he felt he could make a valid contribution.

During his childhood he was lucky to have had teachers that made a difference in his life and he was astonished how powerful this impact could have on a child's development.

He said, "It's amazing what a person can do to change someone's life."

Mr Chaplin now has the opportunity to do that at Nungarin Primary.

As if he didn't have enough school work to do, the young principal has also begun a Masters in Education at Murdoch University that will take four years to complete.

When asked whether he has had time to enjoy his new home with his dog Chief he said, " I have been flat out with working and have had to learn a lot as this is my first principal position."