You’ve been a leader for a number of years. What can you tell me about this experience?
I have been so blessed to have had many years in this profession, and access to great faith formation. I was a Brigidine Sister for 11 years, where I was an untrained teacher for some of those early years. I’ve spent 47 years in schools in Victoria and Western Australia, and 26 years as a principal. This includes the seven-and-a-half-years that I have been Foundation Principal of this college and other leadership roles, as well as six-and-a-half years as Coordinator of Primary Curriculum and Teaching, as well as Coordinator of Leadership at Leederville. I also served in the rural and remote areas of Australia, including in the Kimberley.
“Strong in Faith and Love” is your school’s motto. How does the school uphold this motto for students and staff?
Our motto comes from the words of our patron St Teresa of Kolkata. They remind all of us in the college community of the way she lived her life – with great outreach to every person, with great love and humility, with a sense of service. We try to model her inclusivity and limitless service in everything we do here.
Mother Teresa said and put to action, so many other beautiful things including, “Give only Jesus to all you meet”. She made no distinctions as to race or religion, social status or world views and modelled what Christian love is supposed to be. At the same time, the staff and our older students know that Mother Teresa’s great challenge was her “Dark Night of the Soul” (as coined by St John of the Cross).
For many years, Mother Teresa was deprived of any sense of God’s presence in her own life. She shared the burden of Jesus’ sense of being utterly abandoned in the Garden of Gethsemane – and yet, to everyone she encountered, she radiated joy and cheerfulness. “We shall never know the good that a simple smile can do” and “Let us always meet each other with a smile, for a smile is the beginning of love.”
So this is what I try to remind myself and instil, as a leader, in the staff and students of this college.
What were some of the steps taken by Mother Teresa College to remain connected as a school community, especially during the earlier stages of the pandemic?
The staff worked hard to set up the online learning, staff trialed it the week before home-schooling started, to make sure everything would run smoothly. Teachers and extended members of the leadership team checked-in with every family at least once a week.
Our Teachers and Educational Assistants supported the home-schooling by responding to children’s queries about their work all day long using the TEAMS platform.
We remained open the whole time for students whose parents were essential workers, and staff delivered ‘thank you’ cards and chocolates to these parents.
Members of the Extended Leadership Team organised online messages of encouragement and care from all staff to all the 570 plus families of our school.
You can see how hard the staff worked behind the scenes, out of their kindness and generosity.
Can you tell me about your leadership style?
Our leadership style at MTCC is different in the sense that all staff exercise leadership. We work on six pillars that can increase in number according to staff consensus.
Our current pillars are: Making Jesus Real, Inquiry Learning, Sustainability, Well-being, Technology and Student Learning Data. Each staff member chooses a pillar to commit to, and that will become their means of contribution and decision-making for the whole college, and together we will work in community to bring out the best in one another and our students.
We also have many opportunities for the staff to connect – to have fun and share stories, including faith-journey sharing. Our staff-parent sessions support a friendly and understanding environment and sense of belonging.
We also encourage the students to be leaders by encouraging them to express and implement their ideas, acknowledging their efforts and supporting them the best we can.
Our team for evangelisation and religious education focuses on Catholic curriculum, catechesis and Christian Service Learning, encouraging young people to contribute to society by ’Making Jesus Real’ in their lives.