School Board and Board Minutes

Prachi is a parent of three children, two of whom currently attend Hillarys Primary School. As a qualified lawyer with other 10 years experience, Prachi holds an LLB (Hons) and Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Finance) from the University of Western Australia. Prachi currently works as a lawyer at a community legal centre, specialising in consumer credit and consumer law issues. Prior to this, Prachi worked as a lawyer in a large corporate firm in Perth, as an in-house lawyer at a bank in London and as a Legal Policy Officer at a WA government department. Prachi hopes to utilise her varied professional experience as a lawyer to assist with her role as a Board member.

Russell is a dad to two students at Hillarys Primary School.  He cycles on the weekend, plays guitar badly, has a large board game collection, plays D&D with friends and paints Warhammer 40K miniatures when he has some time. Following his successful IT career, Russell pursued a career within education and is currently the Deputy Principal of a local high school. In addition to being involved in a multitude of school projects and programs, Russell has been instrumental in a range of ICT, Business and Operational plans to drive school progress. Furthermore, Russell has worked to mentor peers and students through formative years and takes great pride in those who are now working successfully in their chosen fields. As a parent representative on the school Board, Russell hopes to bring a different viewpoint as well as offering his perspective and skills with regard to data analysis.

Kate is a mother to three children, two of whom currently attend Hillarys Primary School. Kate is trained as both a primary school and early childhood teacher and has worked as a teacher for 15 years in the UK, New Zealand and Australia. Kate has held a variety of leadership positions within the schools she has worked and her most recent role has been in Early Childhood Intervention, supporting families with children with disabilities and advising schools and early childhood centres regarding this. Kate hopes her knowledge, skills and experiences in the education system and those of inclusion and diversity will be of benefit to the Board.

For over 15 years, Pam has held senior leadership roles in the financial services industry (banking and wealth management) in the areas of marketing, communications, product and corporate social responsibility. Pam is currently responsible for building the marketing strategy for Blueprint Wealth, a boutique wealth management practise in South Perth. Prior to relocating to Perth with her family in 2014, Pam held the position of VP and Chief Marketing Officer for Alterna Savings in Toronto, Canada. Pam has completed a BA (Mass Communications) a Masters Certificate in Marketing Communications Management and in 2016, a Certificate in Investment Foundations. Pam has been an integral part of strategy development and implementation, operational improvement and efficiency initiatives as well as policy development. Additionally, Pam’s previous Board experience includes Windfall Clothing Services in Toronto, Canada (2012-13) and Cecil Community Centre in Toronto, Canada (2002-2005). Pam has three children, two who currently attend Hillarys and one who has graduated and is now attending Duncraig Senior High School.

A parent of two children, both currently attending Hillarys Primary School, Natasha enjoys being an active community member of the school and volunteers within the P&C and parent groups. With a Bachelor of Education degree in Primary Education and previous teaching experience, coupled with a Graduate Diploma in Human Resources Management and varied experience working within both the resources and not-for-profit sectors, Natasha aims to bring a diverse and balanced perspective to the Board of Hillarys Primary School.

Donna French is a Special Needs Education Assistant and following her move to Australia from England with her family, in late 2003, has worked at Hillarys Primary School since 2004. In England, Donna worked with special needs children and has a wealth of experience in this field, having supported many students with a range of different disabilities over the years. Donna is passionate about the care and inclusivity of these children within a mainstream school. An active member of the Pastoral Care team at Hillarys Primary, Donna is also the coordinator and a facilitator of the Rainbows program, which is a peer support group for children who have suffered some form of trauma. Donna is looking forward to bringing her varied perspective to the school Board.

Jackie Lock    

Jackie has two children attending Hillarys PS and has a strong connection with the school as a former student of Hillarys (when it was Lymburner Primary School). Along with being a Parent Representative on the School Board she is also on the Executive Committee of the P&C and is the P&C Fundraising Coordinator. This ensures that the activities run by the P&C are aligned with the vision and business plan of the school Board. Professionally, Jackie is a Project Engineer with ConocoPhillips. She graduated with a degree in Civil Engineering (Honours) and has been working in the industry for over 15 years. Her personal interest in diversity and inclusion in the Oil & Gas industry transfers to school level for including strategies for increasing female participation and interest in STEM subjects.

Libby has been teaching for ….. ever. She graduated with a Diploma of Teaching from Churchlands Teachers’ College and after a few years in the classroom, continued teaching full-time while completing a Bachelor of Education at Edith Cowan University. Libby achieved Level 3 Classroom Teacher status in 2012. She was first appointed to Hillarys Primary when it was known as Lymburner Primary. During her time here, in addition to classroom teaching in Years 1-7, Libby has appreciated the opportunity to take on a wide variety of other roles and responsibilities, including those at an administrative level. She hopes that her past experience, current enthusiasm, and optimism for the future will enable her to make a balanced contribution to the Board. Libby has two adult children, a twenty-five year old daughter and a twenty-one year old son.

Ron Chesny    

Principal Hillarys Primary School

Ron has had 39 continuous years of service in education, 29 as a Principal of country and metropolitan schools both large and small. Ron has a Master of Education with a specific emphasis on Educational Administration. He was a founding co-leader of the WA Primary Principal’s Leading from the Front initiative catering for professional learning needs to the principalship. He has also been Chairperson of the Edith Cowan University’s School’s Liaison Committee, a non-sectoral group that once oversaw conditions for pre-service teachers and schools and held various other committee memberships at a district and regional level. He has a strong and ongoing commitment, belief and interest in distributed leadership models within schools.

Nola began her teaching career in the Secondary School system. Her Post Compulsory and Work Place Schooling, Youth Education and Enterprise Education responsibilities included classroom teaching, course and event co-ordination, student counselling, funding submissions and external curriculum writing. Nola combined secondary teaching with additional leadership, counselling and pastoral positions. She later worked within the ‘Inclusive Schooling Initiative’ liaising between schools, parents and external agencies seeking additional curriculum and resource assistance for children with special needs. An Early Childhood teaching exchange in London prompted Nola to further explore opportunities within the Primary sector and she has since worked in numerous country and metropolitan primary schools. Nola is currently a Year 3 teacher and the Curriculum Team Leader for English. She was an active member of the Data Analysis Team and is also working within the Mathematics and Curriculum Teams. She is the Year 3 Facilitator for the Duncraig Partnerships Network group.

Julie Tapscott has been an Early Childhood Teacher for 25 years and has taught in a number of different roles and in a variety of schools throughout Western Australia including South Hedland in the Pilbara, Collie in the Southwest and metropolitan schools. Julie has been at Hillarys Primary School for 5 years and is currently teaching Pre Primary. She is a member of both the Numeracy and the Health and Well-being teams and feels strongly regarding Protective Behaviours, believing children have a right to physical and psychological safety at all times. Julie also appreciates the importance of involving the community and believes the connections to the child’s family are key for making school a happy place.