Warragul teacher recognised

by Nicholas Duck

Long-time Warragul resident Dr Robert Jacob has been recognised one of Australia's top deputy principals at the Australian Education Awards in Sydney on Friday night.

Dr Jacob, who currently works at Casey Grammar School and also acts as the school's head of wellbeing, was named a finalist in the Deputy Principal of the Year category.

The recognition is primarily for his work in 2025, where he helped revamp the school's wellbeing curriculum, developing a series of key lessons for every year level around topics including school values and study habits to general life issues such as consent and healthy choices.
Dr Jacob also was recently named by The Educator Australia as one of the "most influential educators" for 2026 alongside his principal Fiona Williams, thanks in large part to the school's revamped mobile phone policy.
Beginning this year, the school adopted a highly restrictive policy that barred students from year 10 and below from bringing phones to school, and year 11s and 12s from bringing their phone out at all on school grounds.
Students caught breaking the rules had their phone confiscated, with parents having to make an appointment with a school to have it returned.
The policy, born from concerns around the addictive nature of phones and the effect they have on developing brains, had an immediate impact despite initial concerns it would prove unpopular.
"We have the opportunity to make school a bit of a haven or an oasis for students where they don't need a phone and don't feel like they need one," Dr Jacob said.
"What has happened is, and I wouldn't be overstating it to say, it's transformed interactions at the school. It's been a much happier place. It's been a much more vibrant and noisy place, and I say that in a good way.
"We really did anticipate there would be a lot of pushback but overwhelmingly the feedback from families was 'we think this is a great idea.'"
Dr Jacob said he was "chuffed" to be recognised for his efforts.
"I'm of course thrilled, I really like that it's brought the school greater prominence. This has all been a team effort, especially with Fiona."
Dr Jacob has a long and storied history in the local area, having taught at St Paul's Anglican Grammar School in Warragul from 1997-2014.
He served as the school's head of music for almost a decade before taking on years seven and later year nine level co-ordinator roles until his departure.
Dr Jacob and his wife will soon move closer to his workplace after 29 years as residents of Warragul.