New Scots All Saints College headmaster John Weeks may have only just started in his role, but he's keen to see it become one of the best schools in the Central West.
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Mr Weeks assumed his role as headmaster from July 1, taking over from the school's first headmaster David Gates.
His original role was to work on the transition of staff through the merge between The Scots School and All Saints' College, but after Mr Gates announced that he would step down as headmaster, he was soon approached to replace him.
Mr Weeks, who was headmaster of Knox Grammar School from 2004 to 2018, said he's keen to build upon the foundations already in place at the two campuses.
"We want people on this side of the Blue Mountains to know that you don't need to go to Sydney," he said.
"There's changes I want to bring to this school, from it's people - student, staff and parents - to the leadership team."
One of those changes includes implementing positive psychology programs, two of which have already been introduced - Bounce Back and You Can Do It - which are award-winning Australian programs.
"If people have the skills to deal with the things that trip us up in life, we can deal with them very effectively," he said.
"Positive psychology programs are showing that they reduce stress, anxiety, depression and we want to be proactive to give young people those skills early in life."
A professional learning development centre will also be introduced for Scots All Saints teachers, where they'll be able to "reflect on their own practice".
"We'll also be providing teachers opportunities to further their own education qualifications with support for masters degrees," he said.
"We're really focusing on teachers and up-skilling them because what the research shows very clearly is that student performance is greatly enhanced by better teachers."
He also said an innovative lab will be introduced on the All Saints campus, featuring six labs - body, energy and hi-tech, digital, design, growth and an innovative lab.
And in a move to engage with the community, Scots All Saints will partner with the Sony Foundation to provide a Children's Holiday Camp Program, a respite program that sees high school and university students take on the responsibility for the care of children with special needs.
"Students from the school, who are trained with the right skills, literally look after the campers in the boarding house and take them through a wide range of activities," he said.
Term three for students at Scots All Saints College commences on Tuesday.