THE Hamilton and Alexandra College has announced Michael Horne as the 39th principal in the school’s 151-year history.

On April 11 Mr Horne replaced acting College principal, Kristen Waldron, who took over from former principal Andrew Hirst on October 3 last year.

Mr Horne, along with his wife Gemma and sons Henry (Year 7 at College) and Theo (Year 4 at College), moved to Hamilton and joined the College community for the start of Term Two.

Mr Horne is an experienced educational leader and was most recently the associate principal at Braemar College in Woodend, Victoria.

He considers himself first and foremost to be an English teacher, with interests in music, history and outdoor pursuits.

Mr Horne said it has been a very busy but great start and he has had the opportunity to meet a whole range of people in the community and the welcome has been very warm.

“So, both within the College and more broadly in the Hamilton community it has been great,” he said.

“So I’ve worked in a range of independent and Catholic schools over the last 20 years or so, previously to this role I was the associate principal at Braemar College in Woodend, so essentially vice principal where I looked after a whole range of things in schools, from staffing to professional learning, curriculum and some wellbeing work as well.

“I had always thought that a principal is a really privileged position to be in, in the sense that you get to influence the lives of so many young students and the staff at the school.

“I had known of The Hamilton and Alexandra College for quite some years knowing some people who have worked here in the past.

“It always seemed like a community which was really welcoming, where the kids were really down to earth, but wanted to learn as well and a school that’s a great size where we can really know the community and the students very well.

“It’ll take some time to think about to learn from the community and people here and think about what are the areas that we might look to next.

“I think there is a real challenge for schools everywhere in the state and across the country around how do we navigate keeping what has made a good school really good over the years.

“So, maintaining all of those things about academic effort and involvement in sport, drama and music, but then making sure that the education the students get is relevant for a new world, where AI is increasingly important, where technology and communication are very different from what they’ve ever been before.

“The welcome has been really very generous and very warm, so I feel like even though we’ve only been here for less than a month, we feel like we have met hundreds of people and have been very welcomed immediately by the community which has been wonderful.

“Yeah it’s been a very busy start, with lots to do and lots to learn of course, but I have really enjoyed the students here at college and I’ve enjoyed speaking with the staff about what they value around the school and where they think we can go next, so it has been a busy but good start.”

Together with his family, Michael has enjoyed getting to know staff and students, as well as meeting many members of the College community, including past and present parents and Old Collegians.

Beyond school life, Michael and his family continue to explore the Hamilton region and wider south-west area, having already been shown some of its attractions by locals, and they look forward to being immersed in all it has to offer.