His efforts transforming the school have landed him a nomination for the WA Primary Principal of the Year in the WA Education Awards 2016.
The 66-year-old is one of four finalists for the award and said it was the children that kept him making good decisions on behalf of the school.
“We never stop learning,” he said. “I make every decision in this school based on what the kids need.
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READ NOW“You don’t do this job for the money; you do it because you love kids.
“I find it a little hard not to thank the community to be able to do what I do.”
One of the things that he said had made the school stronger was developing a peer performance program, where all staff inspired each other to enhance their classroom teaching.
Mr Nastasi said a teacher would walk into a colleague’s class and help them become a better teacher by assessing their colleagues as well as learning new techniques to apply to their own classrooms.
The school has also implemented a high performance classroom where the top performing students from years 4, 5 and 6 are in one classroom.
“We raise the standard with those and challenge them,” he said.
Mr Nastasi said the school had developed a culture that was really caring and loving.
Award winners will be announced on Monday, November 28.