Meet our Employee of the Month: Andrew Roxby

St Philip’s Christian College Cessnock believes in honouring and uplifting our amazing staff. We don’t want to brag, but we think that we have one of the best teams in the world. Once a month, we run a staff-nominated ‘Employee of the Month’, where staff are encouraged to nominate two employees who they believe uphold the College values, as well as go above and beyond to make St Philip’s Christian College Cessnock a better place for our community. We are excited to talk to you about one of our Employees of the Month: Andrew Roxby

Andrew is a phenomenal teacher and fantastic Assistant Head of Senior School and we are blessed to have him on staff at the College. Growing up he was blessed with impactful teachers, that inspired him to great things — Andrew wants to impact the future generations in the same positive way.

What first attracted Andrew to working at the St Philip’s Christian College Cessnock, was the idea of working at a school with so much growth potential available to staff, students and the community of Cessnock. The College was renowned in the Hunter teaching circles for exploring and encouraging new teaching and learning strategies.

Andrew works alongside our Head of Senior School, Mr Brendon Guest, in not only the daily operations aspects of the College but also in crafting the vision of this area of the College to ensure that St Philip’s Christian College Cessnock students are well-equipped with academic and interpersonal skills for life after College. Another aspect of Andrew’s role is assisting our Assistant Principal Teaching and Learning, Mr David Cole, in ensuring all students comply with and meet with NESA mandatory requirements and improve student academic integrity. He is also responsible for helping to guide students in that transition period between Secondary School and Tertiary Education pathways.

It’s evident in his enthusiasm and commitment to work that Andrew loves being part of the forward-planning solution for students to help them improve their holistic wellbeing and strive for their educational goals. Watching students grow in their capacity is every teacher’s favourite aspect of their job, and that’s what Andrew enjoys most!

Andrew is a change agent when it comes to implementing state-of-the-art programs. Two years ago, he was a key stakeholder in driving the change of Stage 5 Electives delivery to school developed courses — a tremendous change that boosted student and staff connectivity to the College. He has also played a pivotal role in independent learning initiatives and the use of iLearn as a functional educational tool. Andrew is currently looking forward to implementing a strategic wellbeing program for Senior School, partnering with the College’s Year Leaders for 2022 — a program that continues to build Christ-like character and strength in students.

In Andrew’s four years at the College, he says that the culture at St Philip’s Christian College Cessnock is continuing to grow as one where students are proud to call themselves students of the College, and the broader community values the quality of students that are graduating from our campus. He says that our culture is unique, as our students are extremely down-to-earth — they respect consistency, opportunity and positive relationships with their peers and teachers.

At the moment, Andrew is really enjoying the variety the College offers. The unique and different opportunities we have to offer, ranging from the Friday Lunch Concerts, school gym sessions to activate our bodies, state-of-the-art facilities, and ever-growing agriculture program.

The fondest memories he says he’ll ever have is with his Year 12 students. There is a special connection developed with students in their HSC year, and you work through that wave of emotions and milestones that come with their final year together with them and their families. These students you never forget because they impact your life just as much as you hope to impact them.

It’s Andrew’s care for his students, and can-do attitude that have seen him land Employee of the Month. We are extremely thankful for everything that Andrew does for St Philip’s Christian College Cessnock and it’s an honour to announce him as Employee of the Month for August 2021.