College Principal – GOAL College

Reporting to: The GOAL College Council

Salary: Negotiable, based on experience

Indicative Start Date: January 2027

Campus Locations: Ultimo & Sydney Olympic Park

ABOUT OUR SCHOOL At GOAL College, we do school differently. We are a young co-educational senior secondary school delivering a sport-based HSC to students in Years 11 and 12. Over the past decade, our exceptional student outcomes have been driven by our ability to leverage an interest-based curriculum, combining vocational education for every student with traditional HSC subjects, to re-engage students with their education.

Our environment is dynamic, flexible and non-traditional. We focus on helping students explore and discover their interests while achieving their HSC in a way that works for them. We are a space where complex student needs are met with care, and where we help young people prepare for whatever future they choose.

Crucially, sport is the connective tissue of both our College and our curriculum. Our classes are built around it, and sport is baked into every day. Although we have many elite sporting graduates, we are not an elite talent development pathway; rather, we use sport as a relational tool to build trust and community.

The new Principal will lead a team of PDHPE-trained teachers and a student cohort where a shared passion for sport is the universal common denominator. Fluency in this culture is a critical tool for building trust and rapport across the school.

GOAL College is seeking an outstanding and agile educational leader who will maintain our successful trajectory, support the wellbeing focus for students and staff alike, and continue to drive the exceptional educational outcomes delivered over our first ten years of operation.

ROLE OF COLLEGE PRINCIPAL GOAL College operates under a highly effective co-leadership model. You will lead the school in partnership with our Executive General Manager (EGM), with both roles reporting directly to the College Council. While the EGM drives business operations and strategy, you serve as the educational leader and public face of the College.

This structure allows you to focus on teaching, learning, staff culture, and student wellbeing. When navigating complex challenges, you and the EGM will operate hand in hand.

This role demands an exceptional educator who thrives in a high-trust, low-ego partnership and wants to spend their days focused on delivering exceptional outcomes for our students, not spreadsheets.

The Principal’s key responsibilities include:

1. College Leadership

- Lead a culture of high expectations and decision-making in the best interests of staff and students, consistently modelling the College's TRIPLE values: Tenacity, Resilience,



Integrity, Professionalism, Leadership and Empathy.
- Foster constructive relationships with the community and represent the College in a manner that builds an exemplary reputation.
- Demonstrate and lead the core belief that all students have value, can learn and deserve support and opportunities to grow.

2. Teaching & Learning

- Lead an evidence-based approach to teaching and learning, leveraging our interest-based, sports-centric curriculum underpinned by a focus on improvement and personal growth for all students.
- Oversee best-practice implementation of the College curriculum and assessment practices, fostering a culture of continuous improvement based on robust data.
- Take responsibility for accuracy of student enrolments, courses, qualifications, and results in NESA Schools Online (EBOS).
- Report to the College Council and maintain a proactive and open relationship with the Chair.

3. Staff Management

- Manage teaching staff and complete annual staff performance reviews.
- Attract, recruit, and retain high-performing teaching staff, ensuring mandatory NESA accreditations and career development requirements are met.
- Ensure staff are trained and supported to operate safely and autonomously and to deliver all elements of the College Curriculum, including understanding of neurodivergence, cultural awareness and competence, and trauma-informed teaching.

3. Student Wellbeing & Child Protection

- Ensure procedures for student discipline and engagement are fair, consistently applied, and viewed through a strict wellbeing lens.
- Ensure the College’s child protection obligations are met, and maintain appropriate relationships with outreach services, including full responsibility for mandatory reporting
- Lead staff to maintain a safe, supportive environment, providing ongoing training in effective welfare strategies.
- Manage responses to and provision of student and family needs and complaints.

4. Shared Governance & Statutory Compliance

- Collaborate with the EGM to implement the Council’s strategic plan and ensure all external reports (e.g., Annual School Report, Student Background Data SBD collection, school census data) are lodged and certified within nominated timeframes.
- Report to the Council on significant operational, academic, and strategic matters,



and attend all required committee meetings.

SELECTION CRITERIA We recognise that candidates may not have extensive experience in each selection criteria below. These are the criteria that are important to us as a school, and applicants will be assessed on potential as well as achieved competence.

Leading Teaching and Learning

- Demonstrated experience in educational leadership with a focus on student outcomes.
- Demonstrated experience re-engaging youth in education through interest-based learning.
- High-level knowledge of, and ability to meet, NESA, State, and Commonwealth legislative and regulatory requirements.

Leadership & Staff Management

- Demonstrated capacity to lead, manage and retain high quality staff.
- Ability to manage and deliver ongoing professional development of teaching staff.

Student Wellbeing

- Extensive experience navigating complex student needs and implementing practical, effective student wellbeing and discipline strategies.
- A genuine affinity for sport and an understanding of how to utilise physical activity to improve wellbeing and build relationships with students.

Personal Attributes:

- High-level communication and interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to build constructive relationships with parents and external stakeholders.
- Resilience, courage, and the ability to maintain composure in challenging situations.
- Exceptional organisational and problem-solving skills, with the ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
- Meet all eligibility criteria required for working in a NSW School environment (including national police clearance, current WWCC and NESA accreditation).

ENQUIRIES: The College welcomes your enquiries in relation to this role and will treat all enquiries and applications as confidential. Should you have questions about applying or would like to discuss this role, please contact the EGM in the first instance. Arwen Fitzpatrick, Executive General Manager t: [02 9171 7001](tel:02 9171 7001)

e: [email protected]

HOW TO APPLY: Applications are now open and candidates are requested to submit applications by email to the Founding Principal at the details below on or before 31 October 2026. Please do not apply via Seek.

Kate O’Donnell, Founding Principal e: [email protected] In support of your application please provide:

- A cover letter (maximum 3 pages) addressing the selection criteria and outlining your approach to leadership in a non-traditional, sports-focused educational setting.
- A comprehensive CV.
- Details of three professional referees.

Applications will be reviewed as received, and the College may interview and appoint before the closing date.

NO AGENCIES PLEASE

📌 College Principal (Sydney)
🏢 GOAL College
📍 Sydney