How Corrimal's principal turned around school nicknamed 'Criminal High'

He had his work cut out for him: just 318 students were enrolled that year, and only 12 weeks after Mr Roger started a fire destroyed the heart of the school, its industrial arts building, causing major upheaval for students and staff.

But this year, the school boasts 559 students - a 76 per cent increase.

Those first months were an "interesting start" for Mr Roger, but the fire actually gave the school the opportunity to reset and get the community behind it.

"We were offsite for six weeks during that time, so we went down to Bellambi Public, we had years seven to 10 down there, we had year 11 and 12 at Corrimal East [Public School] and that gave us a chance to connect with our primary schools a lot," he said.

But Mr Roger had to push against a perception that transformation was out of reach: staff had not seen positive change, and the community had the same view.

The school had a reputation for being rough, a lot of that stemming from historical issues that had little to do with those there at the time.

"I came in with this whole idealistic vision of school of choice, not school of convenience, for our kids... But then I had people in community, other schools, saying 'it's not going to happen, we've seen all this, we know the history, we know the area, it's not going to change'," he said.

"So that was really confronting, but I took that as a bit of a challenge and said 'alright, well let's see how we go'."

There were challenges, he said: student behaviour, attendance and academic performance weren't great, and for a long time Corrimal students had heard all that they couldn't or wouldn't achieve.

As a result, a lot of time in the first few years was spent on developing expectations and culture change.

"It was nice to see people buying into that, because they could see that we were here for a reason, we were trying to change some things," Mr Roger said.

"[But] it was hard with small student cohorts as well, because you didn't have a lot to work with in terms of what you were offering.

"So as we've grown, we've been able to offer more subjects and more opportunities, which changes that whole perception as well."

The school now has a new state-of-the-art industrial arts building containing two trade training centres, an Aboriginal Learning and Engagement Centre, and together with Lake Illawarra and Warrawong high schools makes up the Illawarra Academy of STEM [science, technology, engineering and maths] Excellence, which gives students access to industry partners and more practical learning opportunities.

"It's just about finding what we can do that we can then offer our students... as a comprehensive high school, there's something here that we can offer to everybody," Mr Roger said.

He also worked on easily achievable gains to show change was happening, and modelling high expectations, consistency and responsibility.

The school's data took a hit early on because of the high expectations set for students, Mr Roger said, but over time that has changed and the school now had enough students striving to do well.

He said the school's growth was the result of multiple other factors, too, including the area's population growth, the nurturing of strong relationships with other high schools and local primary schools, and simply getting people through the gates to see what the school was about.

"For a long time, people had a perception of our school based on what they saw from the outside or what they had heard from somebody else," Mr Roger said.

Fostering a sense of belonging and making sure the school is somewhere that staff and students wanted to be has been another important aspect.

"[The students are] here six hours a day, five days a week, you want them to feel connected and like they belong somewhere, like somebody cares about them," Mr Roger said.

Looking at the student numbers - 2024's year seven cohort is the largest in 15 years - Corrimal High School is becoming a school of choice rather than convenience, as its principal first hoped.

But he still sees room for improvement in academic performance, especially in the Higher School Certificate, although he expects that to change in coming years due to the strong results among current junior students.

Mr Roger also wants to look at pathways for students who do not want to go onto university.

However, looking at how staff, students and the wider community now feel about the school, Mr Roger feels Corrimal High is "almost there" in its mission to become a school of choice.

Mr Roger's work has been recognised with a prestigious $14,000 scholarship to undertake an educational leadership program at Harvard University in the US.

In July, Mr Roger will travel to Boston with two other teachers from Australia for the six-day intensive course, thanks to the Public Education Foundation, Teachers Mutual Bank and the Harvard Club of Australia.

The program is open to all public school principals in Australia and last year Mr Roger narrowly missed out, making the final eight in the interview stage.

Getting the phone call that this year he was successful was "very humbling... and exciting in equal measure".

During the course, Mr Roger expects to meet and learn from leaders in diverse communities around the globe.

"I want to know what people do to connect with their communities and what I can do to make that better here," he said, adding that he also hoped to create partnerships with others around the world that would go beyond their time at Harvard.

The program is something Mr Roger wants to do to get better at his job, and to gain new knowledge to share with his team.

"It's going to help me, I guess, look after myself better and have a better understanding about how I can connect with my leadership team, how I can connect with my staff and my students, but most importantly, the community," he said.

"That's one thing I'm really excited about learning."