Community & Business
4 September, 2025
Popular Principal’s Unpopular Move
St Patrick’s School Allora will farewell Principal Keith Blaikie at the end of this year.
In the past five years Keith has endeared himself to the School, the Church and to the Allora community.
Keith Blaikie ends his role as Principal of St. Patrick’s Catholic School in Allora on 31st December and does so “with a heavy heart”.
“This decision has not been made lightly,” he said.
“I have been offered and subsequently accepted the role of Principal at St. Anthony’s School in Toowoomba, an opportunity that is both rare and humbling.
“Whilst I am excited for the challenges ahead, leaving St. Patrick’s fills me with a profound sense of sadness.
“Allora is a rare rural community.
“In my 21 years in education, St. Patrick’s School is my sixth school and as a result, I have experienced many different contexts throughout Queensland.
“From my perspective, Allora is a refreshingly proud community.
“Proud of its history, heritage and street scape.
“In a nutshell, I have thoroughly enjoyed my five years in Allora.
Asked about his leadership style at what is obviously have a happy school, Mr Blaikie described himself as “an authentic leader”.
“What you see is what you get,” he said.
“At the heart of my leadership style is the 3 R’s - relationships, relationships, relationships.
“With the building of positive relationships comes trust - an essential element for a successful school.
“We can never forget to have a laugh and to celebrate our success.
St. Patrick’s has seen some significant changes since Keith Blaikie arrived.
Positive enrolment growth has been a hallmark over the past 5 years.
“Currently the school has an enrolment of 84 students which is an increase from 73 students in 2021,” Mr Blaikie said.
“I have facilitated the refurbishment of the library, staffroom and administration areas in 2022 which has improved the professional appeal of the school.
“We are currently updating the school master plan to include a development of the prep area and construction of a dual multipurpose classroom for Science and the Arts.
“The school continues to perform exceptionally well academically.
“Our 2025 NAPLAN results continue to improve.
“Our Year 3 students have demonstrated out-standing academic performance, consistently exceeding benchmarks across multiple domains.
“In the areas of Writing, Spelling, Numeracy, and Grammar/Punctuation, student outcomes are significantly above national, state, Diocesan, and Similar Schools (SSSG) averages.
“Our Year 5 students have achieved exceptional academic results, surpassing benchmarks at the national, state, Diocesan, and Similar Schools (SSSG) levels in Writing, Spelling, and Grammar/Punctuation.
“This is a truly remarkable accomplishment that reflects both the strength of our teaching practices and the commitment of our learners”.
Mr Blaikie believes the participation of parents in their child’s education is important.
“At Toowoomba Catholic Schools we believe in a parent’s right and responsibility to be involved in and contribute to the educational experiences of their children,” he said.
“We know that a relationship between school and parents works best when it is based on mutual respect and acknowledge-ment of the value that each brings to the learning process.
“All of our schools aim to complement and build on the work of the family so that all students can pursue their gifts and affirm their sense of belonging and importance.
“Through this, we believe they will become effective and successful learners.”
