5 minute read
Staff Profile – Peter Zagarn
Peter, who with his wife, Hannah, recently welcomed their baby girl Charlotte in February, talks about his role within CGS and imparts some new, fatherly wisdom for the students.
What is your role in the Middle School?
My current role in the Middle School is Mathematics Co-Ordinator and Year 7 Form Teacher. I also teach Year 7 Science, Year 7 Personal and Social Development, and Year 8 Extension mathematics. How long have you been at GCS? Why did you choose teaching as a career and what was your path to get to where you are today?
2021 will be my fourth year at CGS and, my goodness, time has flown. I finished secondary school in 2003 and attended Monash University where I studied a double degree in Science and Engineering with Chemistry focus. While completing these degrees I began tutoring my cousin in Maths Methods and Chemistry. Over the year, I ended up running small classes to help students develop an understanding of topics that I was passionate about. This led me to the realisation that I was looking forward to teaching my cousin and his friends more than the engineering work I was doing. I completed my degrees and moved to teaching. During my Education Degree, I had a myriad of experiences during teaching rounds, and my last placement was at Fountain Gate Secondary College. I was fortunate enough to be offered a job during my placement to teach VCE Chemistry and Physics and I jumped at the opportunity. I remember my first year teaching, 2012, I attended a VCE Physics Personal Development at CGS for new teachers and was amazed by the facilities. Having worked as a Year 10 Co-ordinator for 6 years and not being afforded opportunities to progress, I found an advertisement for a 6-month contract at CGS which I applied for. I remember attending my interview with Rob French, John Tuckfield and Gordon Wilson and, being the organised person that I am, I had laminated printouts of my metacognition work and examples of unit plans. During the interview, the questions ended up leading more towards pastoral care and my experience helping students through crisis. I was offered the six-month contract that day and was excited to start my journey at CGS. Two days later, Rob called me to ask whether I would be interested in a year long contract as a Year 7 Form Teacher. Being engaged and planning a wedding, I said I would love to and that is how it all started.
What are your duties/responsibilities as a personal and social development coordinator?
The role is a difficult one as personal and social development has a wide range of skills and traits we are trying to encourage and develop in the boys. As coordinator, I try to make sure there is ample time built in for these areas, but also remaining flexible as issues that are best addressed in PSD class can arise any time. The role is about supporting the Form teachers in the Middle School and making sure that we are all on the same page and demonstrating the school’s values for the boys. One aspect of the role that I enjoy was developing the Middle School Values Assembly where students were asked to recognise the values of the school in their peers, citing acts that demonstrated the values. This peer recognition was an acknowledgement system I am always interested in as it allows any student to stand up and recognise their peers for what we all hold dear. What do you love about working at CGS?
The people: the students with the enthusiasm to learn in the Middle School, the staff always willing to lend a helping hand, and the support staff that go above and beyond any request. It has allowed me to focus on pedagogy and develop deep relationships with everyone in the school community. Do you have any hobbies outside of school?
As a new parent, I have tried my hand at some woodworking and craftsmanship. I have built some rudimentary boxes for storage and tried to convert a desk into a changing table. The success will be determined if the baby falls off. I like to play video games, no addiction here, and I also like to exercise (tends to be early in the morning or not at all). Now I attend 12RND, boxing fitness classes, about four times a week. I am starting to ride my bike more too and hope to ride to school during Term 4. Did the experience of Covid and 2020 leave you with any changed habits or positive reflections?
The appreciation of a smile – it is what I missed so much. I always try and infuse humour in my classes and seeing the boys smile during a zoom session just made me glad that I found my way to teaching. Checking up on everyone – the squeaky wheel gets the oil, but we should be checking on all the wheels all of the time as a teacher. Zoom made it more difficult to check on the progress of students, academically, socially, and emotionally and it is something that I want to try and do daily. Now that you are a father, what life advice will you impart to Charlotte when she is older that could also resonate with the CGS boys?
Reflect on what just happened. You do not learn from experience, but you learn from reflecting on experiences. Just like shooting a basketball, you need to check that it went in and if it did not, you try and find out why. You need to make sure that you are thinking about what happened, positive or negative, and try to think about what you do leading up to the event. Ask questions about it. Being unsure is such an unsettling feeling, and making sure you are on the right track can bring a feeling of comfort and allow you to be ready to learn something about the world around you. Being ready to observe the amazing phenomena that is happening allows for curiosity to spark. Finding out how things work, why things work, why we think the way we do, is always interesting. That and laugh at your dad’s jokes. He really appreciates it. When we can travel freely again one day, is there anywhere in particular you would like to take your new family member and why?
To my parents’ house? I would really like to imbue Charlotte with an appreciation of Australia and everything it has to offer. Having friends in Perth and Hobart, I would love to take Charlotte and do some exploring of nature. The beautiful beaches, the green forests, the amazing wineries. I’m sure kids like grape vines?
