The next big thing

By Casey Neill
SILVAN Primary School principal Trevor Smithson has watched his small school thrive.
The 58-year-old has seen two major upgrades in his 17 years at the school and is now witnessing a third. Four new classrooms will be up and running by next June.
“This will be the biggest thing that’s ever happened to the school,” Mr Smithson said.
“It’s really exciting. I think the school’s got a great future.”
He said being part of the school’s growth was ‘probably the best memory’ in his 40-year teaching career.
“I think the changes that have happened have been fantastic,” he said.
“I think that’s a terrific memory to have. That you’ve walked out and you’ve been part of a team that’s made a significant difference to the school.”
The Education Department recently recognised Mr Smithson for his four-decade service to teaching.
“Teaching was something I’d always wanted to do,” he said.
He trained at Burwood Teacher’s College for three years before the department sent him to a small school in Leitchville near Echuca.
“When I got the appointment I had to stop at two service stations on the way home to get a map and find out where I was going.”
“It was terrific. You learnt lots because you were involved in everything.”
He returned to Melbourne three years later and wound up hosting Education Department science television program Steps.
“The idea was that you’d go on air and do all these experiments and the kids would follow you in the schools,” he said. The Silvan stand-in principal position role was vacant when the project ended.
“So I came out here and I went back and said ‘I’m in’,” he said.
“When I drove in the driveway and it had on the radio The Beatles song Strawberry Fields Forever, that was a bit of a sign.”
He still holds the principal position and a teaching role 17 years later.
“Teaching and being a principal is pretty hard yakka,” he said.
“When you actually see a kid get something, and the light bulb switches on, it doesn’t get much better than that.”
Mr Smithson said making a difference in a child’s life was a great feeling.
“One of the satisfying things is when the kids come back, and you find out they’re maybe lawyers, or engineers or architects and they’re having a happy life,” he said.
“They come back to you after all these years to say ‘I’m doing really well’.”
Mr Smithson said he’d continue teaching as long as his ‘fire in the belly’ remains.
“I guess you’ll just wake up one day and you’ll probably decide that there are other things to do. That hasn’t happened to me yet,” he said. “I’m happy coming here and I enjoy what I do. I’ve had a lot of fun.”
Mr Smithson has a great interest in photography, particularly landscape shots. “The whole idea of it is just enjoying getting out into the environment,” he said.
“It’s a bit like fishing with no bait on the line. It’s just nice getting out there.”
Now a hobby, photography was once a career alternative.
“So maybe in a few years I might catch up with that,” he said.
“But I went for the teaching and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it.”