Staff

New Staff Appointments

In an earlier Newsletter I indicated that the School was in the process of recruiting some new staff to ensure that we can better meet the needs of the school as an educational organisation as well as a service based business. I will announce the appointment of Head of Senior School in the next fortnight but for now advise that the following staff have recently been appointed. Hills Grammarians always welcome new people to the School and I am confident that we have engaged some outstanding staff to fill these important roles and we look forward to their contributions in the years ahead.

• Director of Advancement & Engagement - Ms Claire Napoli - Claire has a Bachelor of Business from the Australian Catholic University and has worked in marketing for over twenty years and, since 2005 worked for Maddocks Lawyers with her most recent responsibilities falling in the areas of Business Development, Communication and Marketing. Her referees described her as personable, nurturing and a wonderful mentor. Further, they used the following terms to describe her: insightful, strategic and a great communicator. Claire is looking forward to joining Hills Grammar and is excited by the possibilities of the refocused department and ensuring the links between the various areas of the department and with the wider school community are strengthened. Claire will officially commence at the School on 1 August. It goes without saying that she has big shoes to fill and it is of great comfort to me that Liz Pellinkhof will still be on hand to assist with Claire’s transition into her new workplace. Exciting times ahead for the school in the area of Advancement and Engagement.

• ICT Manager - Mr Marcus Claxton has been appointed to the position of ICT Manager. Marcus has a Bachelor of Engineering - Mechatronics, with an MBA – Technology Management together with a vast array of technical certifications. Marcus was IT Director at Penrith Anglican College prior to his most recent role of Client Technical Lead, Senior Systems Engineer/ Technical Consultant at Dimension Data. He has also been a committee member of the AIS ICT Strategic Directions Group. He enjoys American Football and volunteers in mentorship roles. Marcus will commence 18 June.
• Finance Manager - Ms Emily Fawbert has been appointed to the new position of Finance Manager. Emily has a Bachelor of Business – Accounting, Grad Diploma in Chartered Accounting and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia. Emily currently works at Stewart Brown Chartered Accountants as Senior Consulting and Audit Manager. Stewart Brown are the leading providers of accounting, audit, consulting and financial benchmarking services for the aged care sector. Emily has been managing various client engagements for small, medium and large not for profit entities operating within the aged care and disability sectors. Emily is an enthusiastic netballer and is looking forward to working within education. Emily will commence 18 June.
• School Accountant - Ms Saranne Cutajar has been appointed to the position of School Accountant, replacing Ms Susanne Ingham. Saranne has a Bachelor of Economics – Accounting and is a member of the Australian Society of Certified Practicing Accountants. Her most recent role was Finance Assistant at Northholm Grammar and previously an extensive corporate accounting career including a focus on funds management, taxation accounting, superannuation, auditing. Saranne enjoys a busy family life and has commenced 28 May.
• Project Manager - Mr Ernst Scholtz has been contracted for 6 months as a Project Management consultant for the Synergetic implementation project. Ernst holds a Master of Arts – Clinical Psychology and a Master of Business Leadership. Ernst has completed a Maze to Synergetic implementation project at Bunbury Cathedral College and specialises in contractor management, organisational effectiveness, development and change management, systems implementations, operating processes/process improvement, training and development plus a full range of HR functions. He is also working on a SAP implementation project with a major energy provider in NSW.
• Maintenance Assistant – Mr Hayden Rodgers commenced in April and is a qualified licenced electrician bringing a much needed trade skill to the maintenance team. Hayden came to us from Hayden Electrical. Hayden enjoys camping, fishing and the outdoors and is proving a tremendous asset to the team.
• Maintenance Assistant - Mr Martin Leuenberger commenced in May with a background in running his own financial advisory services business. Martin enjoys cars, motor bikes and the outdoors and is enjoying the opportunity for applying his common sense approach to maintenance activities and the active outdoor role with Hills.

Farewell

• We officially farewell our Accounts Manager, Ms Susanne Ingham this Friday 1 June. Susanne has been an integral member of the finance team for the past 3 years and is to be commended for her dedication and commitment to schools including her work here at Hills and her 12 years at Abbotsleigh. Susanne's extensive knowledge of school finance functions has provided a valuable skillset to Hills Grammar. 

Michael Smith | Principal

Twitter: @Principal_Hills