Caroline Chisholm Catholic College’s deputy principal Suzanne Farley has been celebrated as one of the country’s most inspiring teachers.
The editorial board of The Knowledge Review named Ms Farley among its 10 Most Inspiring Educational Leaders in Australia.
She said it was an honour to be recognised as a leading educator.
“Caroline Chisholm Catholic College is a vibrant and diverse community and this recognition reflects the hard work and dedication our staff and students have to learning excellence,” Ms Farley said.
“The 2020 academic year has challenged us like never before, however, amidst all the change, we have been able to overcome these challenges and maintain a focus on learning excellence.
“We’ve had to be innovative and unafraid to try new ways of delivering learning excellence. This has been integral to how our students learn, try new things, reflect and evaluate.”
Ms Farley was instrumental in the college’s improved academic results, including the implementation of a reading program in collaboration with University of Melbourne which has delivered significant improvements in the college’s NAPLAN results.
Her advice to educators facing the challenges of distance learning is: “Be innovative”.
“Never be afraid to try something new,” she said.
“Failure is not a bad thing, it’s integral to how we learn, so try new things, reflect and evaluate, but never be afraid to try something because it might not work.”
Principal Marco Di Cesare said Ms Farley goes beyond her immediate duty.
“Suzanne has transformed the college’s approach to learning and teaching and preparing its 1500 students across three campuses for life beyond secondary school with a much more personalised learning program,” Mr Di Cesare said.
“On behalf of the entire College community, we congratulate her for this outstanding recognition.”
Esther Lauaki
