January 5th, 2023Principal inducted onto shire honour role

In our March 14 edition, we reported on Bullarto Primary School Principal Jo Pegg and her induction
onto the Hepburn Shire’s Heather Mutimer Honour Roll.

INSPIRATIONAL Bullarto Primary School principal Joanne Pegg has been inducted onto Hepburn Shire’s
Heather Mutimer Honour Roll.
At last week’s event celebrating International Women’s Day, Jo was surrounded by family and friends, colleagues, past and present students and their families.
Her work in the school system, a system that often sees children fall through the cracks of mainstream education, her advocacy, her tenacity and determination was recognised through her inclusion on the honour roll.
Jo was featured in The Local last February at the height of Covid. She had moved to the little school on the edge of the forest from the Grampians. While it was assumed she was there to create an exit strategy for the school with four students, Jo had other plans and with the help of a passionate community,
the school now has 22 students, and a menagerie of animals.
In the Victorian public school system teachers and principals can no longer freely speak to the media without going through the bureaucratic hoops. Jo will always be the advocate, willing to share
her thoughts, fight for the wellbeing of her students, her son and children of all ages,
if it means voices are heard.
On the night, Jo spoke about the influence her parents had on her life. Being born with a hand anomaly her parents raised her believing she could do and be anything.
Growing up she witnessed her parents advocate for her every step of the way.
When she was stopped from using scissors in kindergarten, and when her Year 9
teacher refusing to teach her typing, Jo’s parents intervened and instilled the power of
advocacy. They fought for her when she was too young to have her own voice. Now
she’s the voice for many children and their families.
“My parents are the reason I am here. My colleagues, my school community and
my parents. If you are a student of mine, I’ll have your back forever.”
#BreaktheBias
One of the themes for this year’s International Women’s Day was Break the
Bias. Hepburn Shire Mayor, Tim Drylie, broke the bias in his own way – not
only delivering a powerful speech – but actually delivering the speech when it was
suggested by a few that it wasn’t his place.
“I take full responsibility for my own biases and recognise the privileges that come
my way as a white, able-bodied, heterosexual, Anglo-Saxon middle-aged man,” he
said.
“When I asked my daughters what they thought about me giving a speech at an
International Women’s Day event they said I shouldn’t do it and I am sure there are
some people who would agree with them.
“However, after speaking with several other men and women, I realised that
I could be an ally by speaking in solidarity with women and to continue to take
proactive and preventative measures to help ‘Break the Bias’ associated with this toxic
masculinity.”
Cr Drylie spoke about recently formed group, Safety, Respect, Equity and the
work sexual abuse survivor Grace Tame and parliamentary staffer Brittany Higgins are
doing. He called on men to stand up in solidarity.
“Call out and break our own biases and refuse to be a part of this toxic masculine
identity that pervades the top tiers of government and filters down, and to be better
for others,” he said.
“In our own relationships as men we need to look in the mirror and acknowledge
our biases, to be honest with ourselves and begin breaking repeated patterns of abuse
and control, be it of a physical or emotional nature. We need to understand that
healthy relationships are based on respect, good communication, trust, honesty and
equality.”

Words & image: Narelle Groenhout
(Ed’s note: Late in 2022, Jo announced that Bullarto Primary School had reached
an enrolment of 19 students for 2023 and a full-time teacher. The little school that
could, did.)