Parkerville Grove School

Parkerville Grove School is not a school with therapeutic supports attached. It is a healing-centred education environment — built on the proposition that safety, belonging, and healing create the conditions for learning, and that learning itself becomes one of the ways young people rebuild identity, confidence, and hope.

PGS opened in 2026, serving young people in Years 7 to 10 who carry significant trauma histories, mental health challenges, and previous experiences of school that reinforced exclusion rather than belonging. It is deliberately small — fewer than thirty students at present, scaling towards ninety. Every role at PGS contributes to the healing environment. This one leads it — educationally, operationally, and relationally.

The Role

The Principal and the Head of Therapeutic Practice together are the people most responsible for making this school work. That partnership is the central design of the school, and the quality of it will determine what the school becomes.

The Principal's domain is clear: educational quality, curriculum leadership, school operations, compliance, financial and asset stewardship, and the outward-facing relationships that keep the school viable and growing. At this stage of the school's development, building the referral networks, community presence, and funder confidence that bring students through the door is among the most urgent priorities of the role.

The therapeutic frame is the primary lens through which decisions at PGS are made. The Principal holds qualified authority for education and school operations. The Head of Therapeutic Practice holds professional authority for therapeutic practice and model integrity. Decisions affecting both domains are made in genuine partnership. The right person for this role understands that — and welcomes it.

This is not a teaching-heavy role. The Principal steps into the classroom when needed — for cover, for modelling, for connection — and does so well.



Their primary energy goes elsewhere.

You'll Thrive Here If…

You are operationally disciplined and outward-facing. You hold high expectations and deep compassion at the same time. You are genuinely comfortable sharing leadership and secure enough in your own expertise to defer to your colleague's when the therapeutic frame requires it. You hold people to standards — directly, honestly, and without unnecessary delay. And you believe that the young people at the end of this chain — the ones who have been excluded, failed, and left — deserve the very best. Not an adapted version. The best.

What We're Looking For

Experience operating at principal level — whether as a substantive principal, a deputy who has acted substantially in the role, or a senior leader who has carried equivalent responsibility. Current Teacher Registration Board of Western Australia registration is mandatory. Familiarity with trauma-informed educational frameworks is highly regarded. Experience in a multidisciplinary or therapeutic environment is an advantage — though we are prepared to develop the right person into the context.

About Parkerville

Parkerville Children and Youth Care supports children, young people, and families impacted by trauma and adverse life events across Western Australia. PGS is part of Parkerville's integrated service ecosystem — drawing on the organisation's wider therapeutic, cultural, and child-safe infrastructure as a matter of course.

For the full position description and candidate prospectus, reach out to ••••@parkerville.org.au.

Applications close 29 November 2026. We reserve the right to shortlist, interview and appoint the position early, so we encourage you to apply as soon as you can.

For a confidential conversation, contact Kim Brooklyn at ••••@parkerville.org.au.

Parkerville Therapeutic Education Services is committed to a diverse and inclusive workplace. We welcome all qualified applicants regardless of gender, sexuality, age, religion, disability, or cultural background.

📌 Principal- Parkerville Grove School
🏢 Parkerville Children and Youth Care
📍 Parkerville