STAFF SPOTLIGHT

ANNOUNCING

Mrs Rebecca Payne, formerly Dean of Students, commenced as Deputy Principal (Students and Wellbeing) at the beginning of Term 2. Rebecca will continue to oversee the School’s wellbeing programs and deputise for the Principal as required.

Mrs Brenda Komaromi, formerly Dean of Administration, has received a new title, Dean of Academic Services, which is more reflective of the changed nature of her role. In addition to overseeing the School’s timetable, NAPLAN and OLNA arrangements, parent-teacher interviews, teacher relief and subject selection, Brenda will manage other essential processes relating to the school calendar.

Welcoming

Mrs Sarah Woods commenced as the School’s Acting Director of Philanthropy in March. She arrived at St Mary’s from Penrhos College, where she worked closely with their Foundation and the Penrhos Alumni Association to develop and deliver several strategic philanthropic initiatives and campaigns for the College. Prior to her role at Penrhos, Sarah held the position of Marketing and Campaigns Manager at Scitech for more than 10 years.

Farewelling

Mrs Sheevaun Darby, Deputy Principal (Operations), is departing St Mary’s at the end of Term 2 after seven years of loyal commitment to the School. She began her tenure at St Mary’s as Dean of Administration before assuming the role of Deputy Principal (Operations) in 2020. Sheevaun has had a positive influence on many areas of the School and played a pivotal role in managing the impact of the pandemic over the past two years, particularly on our co-curricular programs. She will be missed by the Board, Executive team, staff, students and wider St Mary’s community.

Congratulations to Mrs Clare Johansen, who was recently appointed as Vice Principal at Perth College. She will commence her new role at the beginning of Term 3 2022. Clare joined St Mary’s in January 2020 as Assistant Head of Department of Science. In October 2020, Clare joined the School Executive as Dean of Community, where she was responsible for overseeing St Mary’s marketing, enrolment and community engagement strategies, and in April 2022 she moved into a broader role as Dean of School Operations. On behalf of everyone at St Mary’s, we wish Clare every success in the next chapter of her career.

Long-serving Humanities and Social Sciences teacher, Mr David Cromie, bade farewell to St Mary’s midway through Term 1 upon announcing his retirement from teaching. David was an influential member of the School’s staff for more than 25 years. He served as HASS Head of Department for nine years and Assistant Head of Department for four years. In 2020, David was awarded the Geographical Association of Western Australia (GAWA) Gentilli Memorial Geography Award for excellence in geographical education. On behalf of the entire St Mary’s community, we wish David the very best in retirement.

ST MARY’S STAFF KICKING GOALS

EMERGING CONDUCTOR EARNS EXCLUSIVE OPPORTUNITY

St Mary’s students and staff alike were thrilled to learn in March that our stellar Strings Specialist, Mrs Sara Duhig, was among just five people selected for the West

Australian Symphony Orchestra’s 2022

Emerging Conductor program.

Sara, who endured an exhaustive application process, will participate in a series of development workshops with 2022 WASO

Assistant Conductor Jen Winley, attend

WASO rehearsals and concerts, and observe the Assistant Conductor’s workshops with the orchestra and Principal Conductor,

Asher Fisch.

She will also be afforded opportunities to observe the orchestra’s Artistic Planning team, which will offer her an insight into the workings of a professional orchestral organisation.

i3 PROGRAM GOES GLOBAL

We are thrilled to announce that Mrs Michelle Fitzpatrick, Head of Technology and Enterprise, is set to tell the world all about St Mary’s innovative i3 Program at the Global Forum on Girls’ Education in June 2022. Michelle will be presenting alongside Mrs Sonia Knox, Bankwest Executive Manager Agility and Ways of Working, who has been an avid supporter of the i3 Program for several years. Their presentation, entitled ‘Fixing the world beyond school by engaging hearts and igniting curious minds’, will discuss how the i3 Program came to be, how it has benefited from the involvement of industry partners and the amazing impact that it has had on our students’ learning outcomes. This year’s Global Forum on Girls’ Education will be hosted out of Boston, United States of America. Michelle and Sonia will present during the virtual component of the forum, which will take place on 21 and 22 June.