Department of Education Secretary Mark Scott, along with Georgina Harrisson, Deputy Secretary Educational Services, and Murat Dizdar, Deputy Secretary School Operations and Performance, have been attending 12 education forums around the State this month.

Following on from a successful series last year, the education forum enables principals from Taree to the Clarence to meet directly with key education leaders.

A highlight of the forums has been Mr Scott moderating a panel discussion featuring three leading principals sharing how their schools have improved and transformed.

The principals on the Port Macquarie panel, moderated by Mr Dizdar, will be Nigel Sherrard from Cundletown Public School, Leanne Wakefield from Gloucester Public School and Malcolm McFarlane from Orara High School.

"Students are at the heart of everything we do in public schools," Mr Scott said.

"But we know that our staff and school communities - whether it's school leaders and teachers or parents, carers and community members - are crucial to students feeling known, valued and cared for and continually improving their educational outcomes.

"Our forums aim to inspire our principals to continue to lead schools where every student, every teacher, every leader and every school improves every year.

"But equally we value the direct insights we gain through our principals at the forums and the opportunity to travel across the state we serve."

This year's forums have the hashtag #NSWedforum19 and principals will be able to give instant feedback and ask questions through an online app.

With 820,000 students in 2,200 schools and 85,000 staff, NSW public education is the largest education system in Australia and delivers high quality schooling to two-thirds of the state's students.