Mr Quirk has worked in the Lithgow area for the past 12 years and was given the opportunity to lead the school for the next 12 months.

"I'm looking forward to it," he said.

Mr Quirk does have experience in running a school as principal having relieved for current Lithgow High principal Ann Caro.

He said that he was hoping to take what he has learnt at Lithgow and implement it in Portland.

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Working in a smaller school is about personalising the learning for the individual students, Mr Quirk said.

"We want a year worth of growth for the school," he said.

"It is all about individual learning for the kids."

Mr Quirk said there would be a strong focus on literacy and numeracy for the students.

"I know some of the staff here from over the years and they have been beyond supportive of my appointment," he said.

At the moment Mr Quirk is writing his plan for the school, and would like to see that plan through to the end of the year.

This will be Mr Quirks first time working in a Kindergarten to Year 12 setting.

"This is a smaller school so it is nice to be able to see the younger years through to seniors," he said.

"On the first day everyone was wearing their school uniform and they were all respectful and well behaved, it was a great first introduction."

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Mr Quirk said he was hoping to get around to each class to see what the students are up to.

"I want to be as hands on and visible as possible, so if a teacher is away and I need to step in and do some team teaching, I will," he said.

Once the year is over, unless another opportunity pops up, Mr Quirk will return to his position at Lithgow High School.

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