Harold Cosier never intended to become an educator, let alone a long-standing principal of Wollongong Public School.

However, the 70-year-old has never regretted his decision to forge a career as a primary school teacher.

Mr Cosier grew up in Dubbo, in Central West NSW and started his career farming sunflowers, sorghum and wheat on a share farm before discovering he had a love for learning.

Four decades on and that love of education hasn’t faded, in fact it has blossomed, and Harold is more passionate than ever, with no intention of slowing down.

Mr Cosier was the principal at Lake Heights and Keiraville Public Schools, before becoming the principal of Wollongong Public School in 2008.

"It was the best thing I ever did. It made sense to me that if I was going to be a teacher, I wanted to learn about teaching," he said.

“My first posting was in Pilliga Public School which was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. There were three teachers at the school and about 50 children. It was very isolated but a fabulous community.”

“Now I am on the other side of the spectrum at Wollongong Public School where I look after about 600 kids. There are 58 languages and about 70 per cent of students speak another language. We are an extraordinary, multicultural school.”

Mr Cosier loves to work with all his students, but his focus is on the “tricky” ones.

“The tricky kids usually are the ones that come to school with a backpack full of possibly not the best experiences,” he said.

“Tricky kids are responding in the best way they know to things that are happening in their life that little kids shouldn’t be dealing with and so it is important we (teachers) at schools connect with those kids and give them a safe place to learn skills to deal with those tricky situations.”

Mr Cosier was one of 20 principals acknowledged for their dedication and collective 630 years of long service across the NSW Department of Education at the Regional South and Connected Communities Principal Leadership Summit in Wollongong.

Principal Leadership Summit

Around 275 school leaders from across southern NSW and principals of Connected Communities schools across the state attended the two-day summit, where they took part in keynote presentations and interactive workshops focused on effective leadership and its impact.

NSW Department of Education Secretary, Murat Dizdar, opened the event and wanted it to be an opportunity for the principals to share their ideas and knowledge about effective leadership and how to maximise impact for their students. 

“We know that great leadership and a strong teaching workforce can make a profound difference to the learning outcomes of students,” Mr Dizdar said.

“I am delighted that 20 principals will be recognised at the summit for their commitment to public education in NSW, having worked in the department for more than 30 or 40 years in various capacities.”

The teacher retirement rate has fallen to its lowest level in more than 20 years and the resignation rate is at its lowest level since 2021.

“We’ve given teachers the biggest pay rise since the 1990s, we’ve cut their administrative workload, and we’ve made schools more flexible working environments,” Mr Dizdar said.   

“All these things are adding up to make teaching a sought-after career again and it’s great to see the status of teaching returning to where it belongs. “

 “It’s so important that we hold onto our outstanding educators, which is why we have worked hard to make teaching a more attractive profession and to reduce barriers to career progression in public education.”

 Principals recognised for their long service: