Congratulations on your Exemplary Contribution to Catholic Education, Anne!

Leon Hunniford

Exemplary Contribution to Catholic Education

Almost three decades of both professional and volunteer service to the Tasmanian Catholic Education Office allowed Leon Hunniford to use his expertise as a “figures man” to see through some pivotal moments in our organisational history. Leon was originally a “banker by trade”, working in senior roles for Westpac from the early 1960s, but by 1996 he and his family were seeking change and stability so he embarked on what would be an interesting and fulfilling career move. 

His late wife Carleen saw a position as Office Manager for the TCEO advertised in their local church bulletin and in the eight years that followed he became integral to the rapid change and expansion of the organisation. Leon reflected on his time at the TCEO as he was nominated for an Exemplary Contribution to Catholic Education award, as part of Catholic Education Week 2024.

The TCEO was smaller in those days but the role of Office Manager was expansive, with Leon undertaking duties in payroll for the office staff, finance for the schools, finance for the office, management of the six secretaries who supported the senior executives, and general office operations. 

“This has been all part of my journey in being a Catholic. Combining my skill-set and my faith worked well for me, and knowing that I was doing this for the betterment of the education of our young people across the state,” Leon said. “It was an interesting journey and I loved doing it.”

One of Leon’s proudest moments was acting as Project Manager for the refurbishment of the TCEO’s current location in New Town, and the move from the former North Hobart site. “I lost a lot of hair over that,” Leon joked.

Upon retirement in 2004 Leon was still full steam ahead, volunteering his time up until the end of 2023 on different committees. This included heading up the Systemic Schools Budget Committee, along with participation in the Systemic Schools Governing Council, Systemic Schools Finance Committee and Resources and Sustainability Standing Committee.

“I do it for the grandkids, my last two are coming through the Catholic school system now, so it is my way of contributing to their education. All my children went through the Catholic system too, and it is very much a part of my philosophy.” 

Congratulations on your Exemplary Contribution to Catholic Education, Leon!

Leigh Hart

Giving every student a voice and the opportunity to express themselves has inspired a career-spanning dedication to the dramatic arts for Leigh Hart. Leigh is the Head of Crough Patrick (Year 9 campus) at St Patrick’s College in Prospect, and has been teaching drama at the school for the past 25 years. But her passion for drama began many years earlier in previous teaching roles, such as running a youth theatre company and doing theatre work for the education department, along with earlier work as a professional performer herself in Sydney. 

Leigh was “honoured, totally surprised and blessed” to receive an Outstanding Service as an Employee within Catholic Education award, in the Catholic Education Week 2024 awards. “I’ve always loved working with young people and drama in particular gives students a moment to shine,” she said. “In the arts you get to work with so many talented students and it is all about their personal expression, it is not to do with academics.” 

Leigh’s other great passion is her current role, running the Year 9 campus of Croagh Patrick, which provides education and support to students in what is a critical time in their teenage journey. “It can be a tricky time between no longer being a child but not yet being an adult. This is the year that they figure out their values and where they are going, then come back into the senior school raring to go. That is what the Year 9 campus is focused on,” Leigh said.

The Catholic education ethos of “working with the whole person” is another fulfilling element of Leigh’s work. “As head of campus I get to create programs and devise opportunities for our wide variety of students. It is all about helping them to find out who they are, where they are going and what they value most, then helping them to excel in this.”

Congratulations on your outstanding service, Leigh!

Anne Marie-Walker

Outstanding Service as an Employee within Catholic Education

It has been an honour for Anne-Marie Walker to dedicate almost 40 years to the “lovely, welcoming, caring” St Joseph’s Catholic School Queenstown, a school that she has a long family connection with. Anne-Marie’s service was recognised when she was nominated for a Recognition Award for Outstanding Service as an Employee Within Catholic Education, as part of Catholic Education Week 2024.

A lifelong local resident, Anne-Marie and her siblings attended St Joseph’s Queenstown as children, and so too did her mother. After this Anne-Marie became a teacher’s aide for the school. “It is a lovely school with fantastic teachers, good parents and a lot of history. I have really loved my time here.”

The joy of working with students and seeing them growing in knowledge and confidence has been one of the best parts of her role. “There is a sense of fulfilment you have when you see them put in the effort and then something just clicks, or the satisfaction to see them enjoying their learning.”

Another love of Anne-Marie’s has been her involvement in the school library over the past 30 years, growing this important facility from a smaller number of resources to the abundant and dynamic space that it is today. “I love reading to the children and looking after the books. We are very lucky to have a lovely library, and have built up a very good collection. I would have loved a library like this when I was a child.”

Anne-Marie has seen many changes to the school and the local community over the past four decades. She was actually employed by Sister Margaret Grant (OLSH), the last Sister to be a Principal of the school before lay principals were introduced. It has been a wonderful surprise for Anne-Marie to receive this recognition award.

“I am very humbled, because I just love working there and coming to school everyday is just what I do. I am very thankful that they thought to nominate me.”

Congratulations on your outstanding service, Anne! 

Patricia Green

Outstanding Service as an Employee within Catholic Education

Patricia Green has seen three generations of families come through St Brigid’s Catholic School in New Norfolk during her 60 years at the school, and she has enjoyed each and every minute of her time there. The recently retired primary teacher has been cheekily described as having “more comebacks than John Farnham”, with St Brigid’s proving to be both her heart and her second home.

Patricia has been nominated for a Recognition award for Outstanding Service in the Catholic Education Week awards 2024. “To get an award for what you enjoy doing is just lovely. I have been so lucky for parents to share their beautiful children with me, it is a very privileged job,” she said. “I have a very long attachment with the school and we really are just a big family there. I am onto teaching some of the grandchildren now and I am very proud of all those that I have taught.”

Patricia has dedicated her career to the early education years of Kinder to Grade 2 and most recently had been assisting with relief teaching at the school. She said these years were very special to teach. “Just to see their faces when they achieve something, to experience their joy and to have fun with them. You hope to make school as happy a place as it can be, they need to be happy to enjoy learning,” she said.

“The little ones are just so gorgeous. They speak their minds too, they call me Mad Mrs Green or Granny Green and it is a term of endearment. Sometimes they ask ‘were you here with the dinosaurs’? It is absolutely innocent and very funny.” Watching that progression from starting school at four years of age through to graduating primary school has been wonderful for Patricia.

“I get quite emotional when they are about to leave Grade Six, you love them all right throughout. I have lots of beautiful memories.”

Congratulations on your outstanding service, Patricia!

Marcelle Ottaway

25 Years of Service Award 

Teaching has provided Marcelle Ottaway with constant opportunities for reinvention and growth, but after 25 years within the physical education field she took the largest leap of all. It was time for a new challenge and the physical demands of PE teaching were not proving the right fit for Marcelle anymore. So she retrained and has spent the past year as the Year 11-12 Pastoral Coordinator and the Career Development Coordinator for St Aloysius Catholic College.

Marcelle was thrilled to have her dedication to teaching recognised, as the recipient of a 25 Years of Service award for the Catholic Education Week awards 2024. “I have always made an effort to continue to upskill and keep things dynamic. I have taught primary and secondary years for different schools, have been the HPE head of department and the sport coordinator, and have assisted with planning for numerous new facilities at St Aloysius as we have expanded,” Marcelle said.

“This is my first year not teaching PE and I am really enjoying my new roles, they marry together beautifully.” “If you are motivated to keep learning yourself you can always keep your career fresh.” Marcelle started teaching in 1999 at Mount Carmel, before spending time at Mackillop College, and then at her current school of St Aloysius.

“My favourite grades to teach are definitely the senior secondary years. I enjoy dealing with young adults and all the different issues that you can help them work through.” While her sporting boots are hung up for now, Marcelle will always treasure the memories of her physical education years. “Sport is a fantastic outlet for a lot of our students, allowing them to develop self-confidence and build life-skills like team-work and cooperation,” she said. “One of my real passion projects was implementing the Duke of Edinburgh program at St Aloysius. This youth development program has allowed students to really push themselves and grow.”

Congratulations on your 25 Years of Service, Marcelle!

Wendy Forsyth

25 Years of Service Award 

Almost 50 years of teaching has allowed Wendy Forsyth the opportunity to explore her love for maths, with its mix of logic, creative thinking and infinite possibilities for use. Wendy is the Director of Curriculum for Years 7-12 at St Aloysius Catholic College in the state’s South, and while she has also enjoyed teaching science and information technology - it is maths that has always had her heart.

Wendy reflected on her favourite subject as she was announced as a 25 Years of Service award recipient, in the Catholic Education Week awards 2024. “Maths is not just about the answer, it is actually about the process that gets you to the answer. People don’t realise that so much of maths is about communication too, to show what you have done,” Wendy said.

“It is an incredibly important field, a lot of research suggests that students who do maths end up with higher levels of happiness, more career options and a greater earning power.” “Even in everyday life you need maths. Say you are setting out from Hobart and driving to Launceston for a plane flight you would need to calculate how long it will take to travel to make the plane, and the check-in times. Financial literacy is another important way of using maths too.”

Wendy found her calling by chance when she started work as a Secondary Teacher in 1975. “I actually wanted to do vet science, as I was involved with horses and they took a lot of my time. I ended up with the offer of teaching when I finished my schooling,” Wendy said. “I have really loved teaching, it has been a great career. It has also allowed me a certain amount of flexibility to do other things in my life too, like train horses at home after school and finish some more work off after that.”

It seems that teaching is in Wendy’s destiny, as wherever she goes she finds herself in similar roles. “Since then everything I have done has taken on a teaching role, like becoming a dog obedience trainer and working with the owners, or an equestrian coach as well as competing myself.”

After all these years there is nothing quite like the reward of teaching. “When students appreciate what teachers are doing for you it is rewarding. It is such a fabulous career.”

Congratulations on your 25 Years of Service, Wendy!

Caroline Wilson-Haffenden

25 Years of Service Award 

Empowering young women to believe that anything is possible in their education and future careers has been a great passion for Caroline Wilson-Haffenden. As the Deputy Principal of St Mary’s College in Hobart, and former Director of Primary education at Mount Carmel, she believes that girls must be encouraged to take risks to develop a confident and articulate voice – qualities that are advantageous for leadership and success. Caroline reflected on the important mission of educating the next generation of young women, as she was awarded a 25 Years of Service award in the Catholic Education Week awards 2024.

As a leader of learning and teaching, Caroline believes that together we achieve more. “A Christ centred and student focused learning environment that fosters critical thinking, creativity and excellence, self-efficacy, and motivation is critical,” Caroline said. “These qualities are of paramount importance when the statistics for young people paint a negative picture including mental health, risk-taking behaviour and underachievement.”

Caroline has been working as a teacher for around 30 years, starting out in 1992 with a “baptism of fire” as she entered the all-boys education system at St Virgil’s College while still studying at university. She thoroughly enjoyed her time there, then found herself at a critical point in the history of Catholic Education Tasmania, as they restructured their Southern colleges.

“I was fortunate to work as a foundation staff member of the then new Mackillop College, under the leadership of the inspirational Brother Tony Smith who optimised servant leadership.” Despite the variety of teaching roles held by Caroline over the years, which also includes one year at St Aloysius Catholic College, the one thing that has remained consistent is the importance of her faith. “We talk about the development of the whole person – the spiritual, academic, social, emotional. I savour the challenge of engaging and leading others – staff and students alike – in the evangelising mission of the Church.” 

Congratulations on your 25 Years of Service, Caroline!

Peter Kay

25 Years of Service Award 

A good school teacher can set you on the right path in life and leave you with morals and lessons that you treasure for decades to come. This was the case for secondary teacher Peter Kay from St Aloysius Catholic College. Peter reflected on his favourite school teacher from his own education, as he was nominated for a 25 Year of Service Award in the 2024 Catholic Education Week awards.

“I had a very good mentor during my schooling in Paul Egan at St Virgil's, who has recently retired at Immaculate Heart. He was really inspiring as he had an unbiased approach to every student in the class, he involved everyone, and he broke down educational challenges to allow all students to achieve them.”

Peter has worked as a secondary teacher for the duration of his career, aside from a short stint in a primary school while working overseas, and he said the impact that can be made in the lives of young adults is what keeps him interested in the secondary years. “I find in this age group you can really make a difference, and I love to see our students grow and develop. To see them really challenging themselves and even surpassing what they previously thought they could achieve is fantastic.”

Physical education is a favourite field for Peter, who teaches students from Year 7 through to Year 12. “I am into anything within the sport realm. Whether sports development, sports science, outdoor education, the Duke of Edinburgh awards, health or physical education,” he said. “It is great to be active and to have that variety. You could be on a stand up paddle board in the morning and by the afternoon you could be playing lacrosse and having a great time with the Year 10’s. It’s a lot of fun.” 

Working for St Aloysius for the past decade has provided Peter with an opportunity for professional development, with the school growing from around 500 students to around 1200 in that time, and it has been recently extended to include the college years too. “There is never a dull moment. Moving into the college space has been a new frontier for us and the school has been very supportive in this space.”

Congratulations on your 25 Years of Service, Peter!

Angela McCarthy

25 Years of Service Award 

Seeing the difference between student outcomes at the start and the end of the year has driven Angela McCarthy through her 28 years in the Catholic school system. Angela started with Catholic Education Tasmania in 1996, working across Prep to Grade Six, and has been with St Aloysius Catholic College for the past 17 years.

“Teaching has been wonderful, I like that it is always so different, lots going on every day,” she said. “I love to see the students' faces when they feel good about what they are achieving.” It was a wonderful surprise for Angela to be nominated for a 25 Years of Service Award in the Catholic Education Week 2024 awards. 

“I never really wanted to do anything else, I have always liked school and learning so it was a natural flow on for me,” Angela said. Angela has previously worked at Sacred Heart Catholic School, done relief teaching for St Virgil’s College and Corpus Christi Catholic School, and prior to that worked in the public school system for 15 years in remote areas across Tasmania. 

Currently, Angela provides literacy support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students for the junior and middle campuses at St Aloysius. “It is great to make a difference.” 

Congratulations on your 25 Years of Service, Angela!

Melissa Marshall

25 Years of Service Award 

With lots of balls being juggled and many assessments and plans on the go, Melissa Marshall thrives in the dynamic role of Student Support Coordinator. This critical role – which provides an intersect between students requiring additional support, their families and their teachers – allows Melissa to play a part in achieving better learning outcomes for students at St Patrick’s Catholic School in Latrobe.

While humbled by her nomination for a 25 Year of Service Award in the Catholic Education Awards 2024, Melissa said it was a “team approach”. ”It is vitally important to enable the kids to feel successful in their education,” Melissa said.

“There is a lot of behind the scenes work, monitoring and adjusting to get the right fit.” “There are assessments, learning plans, applications, coordination, working with staff, working with families, and funding to organise.” Melissa commenced her career as a Kindergarten to Grade 6 teacher in 1998 and moved into her current role about four years ago.

“My favourite has always been the early child care years. Being able to see their success and their own joy in what they can achieve.” 

Congratulations on your 25 Years of Service, Melissa!

Anne Henderson 

25 Years of Service Award 

Teaching and school life is in the blood for Anne Henderson, who has a multi-generational history with Sacred Heart College (SHC) in New Town. Anne has fond memories of her own education at the school, while also seeing her mother as a much respected and adored teacher there. So it was only natural that when Anne grew up and started her teaching career that she would ultimately come back to SHC to teach, and for her own two children to also have their education at the school.

Anne’s dedication to teaching was recognised when she was nominated for a 25 Years of Service Award, as part of Catholic Education Week 2024. “I have always felt a real affinity with the college, it is like my second home,” Anne said.

“Growing up with my mother as a teacher had a big impact on my life, she was well loved by all and I looked up to and respected her. Seeing her as the teacher that she was really cemented my own decision about my career.” “Having my son and daughter attend the school has been really special too. Along with my mother and I, all four of us were Delaney House Captains.”

Anne has enjoyed her past 15 years teaching at SHC, where Mary MacKillop’s motto of “never see a need without doing something about it” is integral to every part of school life. “We have a lot of students who are humanitarian arrivals, coming from countries where they have experienced severe trauma. It has been wonderful to see them flourish in our school and with our care.”

Anne has enjoyed working as a secondary teacher with a particular love for physical education, and other subjects she has taught include religious education, maths and history. Her first job was teaching at St Brendan Shaw College in Devonport, for the late former principal Brother Tony Smith, who truly shaped her future. “He taught me everything I knew. He valued and mentored everyone and I believe I am the teacher I am today because of him.”

Anne has found her teaching career to be “satisfying, rewarding, challenging, heart-warming heart-breaking, just everything” and she is honoured to receive her reward. “It is nice to be recognised, but you don’t do your job to be recognised. I just love my work.”

Congratulations on your 25 Years of Service, Anne!

Sharlee McPherson

25 Years of Service Award 

It has been a privilege for Sharlee McPherson to work one-on-one with primary school students as a teacher aide, getting to witness those special light bulb moments in a child’s education. Sharlee started out as parent help in the classroom at Sacred Heart Catholic School in Ulverstone, before becoming a teacher aide, and she has relished every moment.

It was a great surprise when Sharlee found out she had been nominated for a 25 Year of Service award, as part of Catholic Education Week 2024. “It sounds like forever but when you love doing something it goes quickly.” Two of Sharlee’s favourite programs to assist students with are speech therapy activities and the InitiaLit early literacy program.

“I really enjoy building that relationship with the child and giving them that extra bit of help that they need,” she said. “Often they don’t understand the concept at first, but with some extra help they get it - and you get to see their light bulb moments, which you might miss out on if you weren’t working one-on-one with them.”  

Sharlee has a long history with her beloved school, as her own two children attended the school, and now three of her grandchildren are attending. “It has been lovely to see this full circle come around. You hear them calling out ‘Nanny’ in the playground.”  

Another special moment for Sharlee has been seeing those who were once students themselves come back as either parents or as trainee Teachers and Teacher Aides. “It is a really special job, not only teaching our children but also looking after them so they grow up to become responsible adults.” 

Congratulations on your 25 Years of Service, Sharlee!

Nicholas McGann

25 Years of Service Award

The belief that everyone deserves the chance to have a good education is the driving force behind Nick McGann’s 27 year teaching career. Nick has been the Principal of St Francis Flexible School for the past three years, with the school providing education to 165 students from Years 7-12 who have had difficulties within the mainstream schooling system.

Nick received a 25 Year of Service Award in the Catholic Education Awards 2024. “At St Francis it is all about connecting with students and turning what was a negative experience into a positive experience,” he said.

“We work through their problems and go from there, we don’t abandon anyone. Everyone deserves a chance.” Prior to his current role, Nick worked as a primary teacher, Principal and Assistant Principal  for Catholic schools across the state. 

“I like to make a difference for young people and see them enjoy themselves in their schooling,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed being in the Catholic system for all my career. I was brought up Catholic and went to a Catholic school, and my children did too.” 

Congratulations on your 25 Years of Service, Nicholas!

Julie Fletcher

25 Years of Service Award

Julie Fletcher has long believed that “God puts you where you are meant to be, for how long you are meant to be there, and to cross paths with people for a reason”. Julie’s faith has allowed her to experience a beautiful past 26 years at St Aloysius Catholic College in the state’s South, where she has relished every minute of working as a teacher assistant.

“I absolutely love what I do. Every day is different, and getting to make an impact in little people’s lives is the reward at the end.” While Julie was honoured to be nominated for a 25 Years of Service Award in the 2024 Catholic Education Tasmania awards, she said the time goes very quickly when you enjoy your work.

For the past 23 years Julie has focused specifically on providing speech therapy support to students from Kinder to Grade 2. She has enjoyed building relationships with her students and helping them to flourish. “I am responsible for helping them to communicate properly, while building beautiful relationships with the children by working one-on-one with them,” Julie said.

“Speech is so important, and not just as a communication tool. The ability to communicate is related to the development of all areas of a child’s learning.” Adding to the richness of Julie’s work for St Aloysius, she also provides ICT support to the school. “I take care of the repairs and allocations, and some ordering. I respond to some of the tickets logged through the ticketing system, assist both staff and students with their ICT needs, and I also go into the classrooms to help.”

Julie said the greatest part of working for St Aloysius for such a long time is that the staff are like a big family. “Even though our school has grown as big as it is over time, everyone is still close and caring. It’s a lovely place to work.” 

Congratulations on your 25 Years of Service, Julie!

Annette Jak

25 Years of Service Award

The company of five and six year olds has been “just magical” for Annette Jak. The primary school teacher for St Patrick’s Catholic School in Latrobe has been a teacher for 28 years in total, with 18 of them being in Prep - her favourite grade of all.

“The company of little children is just amazing, it is such a learning journey they are on with reading, spelling and writing,” Annette said. “At the beginning of the school year the kids can’t crack the code yet and by the end of the year they have gained so many skills - it is really empowering to be a part of this.” “And for all the effort you put in, the kids give me a lot back in return.”

Annette was humbled and surprised to be nominated for a 25 Year of Service Award in the Catholic Education Week awards 2024. “I really just love my job, teaching kids is what it is all about.” Annette said to be a good Prep teacher you must enjoy sharing a love of mermaids, fairies, unicorns, rocks, lego and Sonic the Hedgehog with your students, as well as creating a comfortable and nurturing learning environment. 

“What you give to the kids is what you get, so you must establish good relationships with them all, and when you are at school you are like their Mum or their Nan during the day.” Annette has spent the past nine years at St Patrick’s and has enjoyed getting to know her colleagues, the Latrobe community, and of course, her students.

Congratulations on your 25 Years of Service, Annette!