Admin and Leadership

We proudly introduce our wonderful Administration and Leadership Team for 2022: 

Emma Meloni -  Office Administration

Hi I’m Emma and I work at the reception at SMPS. I look forward to seeing all our current families and getting to know all our new families in 2022!  

You’ll see me at the front desk assisting you with your everyday queries, supporting student attendance, sick bay, and if you don’t get the chance to see me at reception you will most likely hear me at the other end of the phone helping you wherever I can. 

A few things about me: I enjoy weekends with my little Maltese Shih-Tzu Mocha, as well as living by the bay and taking any opportunity to explore Victoria.  

I hope to see you all sometime soon. 

Kirsty Reynolds - Enrolments/Office Administration

Welcome back SMPS families!  I’m Kirsty Reynolds and have been in the team for just over 12 months now. I mainly look after the Administration Office and all our Enrolments, but I do also tend to first aid, help out our FAF team, and generally do any other task that Mr Noel and the Leadership team need me to do! My husband Michael and I have three children, Lachie is 19, Tommy is 18 and Olivia is 16 so they keep us on our toes!  Outside of work I love to cook (and eat!), I enjoy reading and when not in lockdown, I play netball. When in lockdown, I sometimes have a tendency to binge on Netflix!  I live near the beach, so I also love taking long walks with friends. I’m very excited to be back at school to welcome our newest family additions and catch up with all our wonderful students and families.

Tess Duerden - Business Manager

Hello to the wonderful families and friends of South Melbourne Primary School. I’ve been part of the SMPS team for 3 years now and I absolutely love my job. I am the Business Manager and my job involves managing the school's finances, facilities, human resources, office team, and much more. Outside of work I am an animal loving, crazy plant lady and spend most of my spare time relaxing, catching up on the newest TV series or seeing my friends and family. I cannot wait to get the 2022 school year started and I am excited to meet all our new families and to welcome back our current families.  

Colin Mountney - IT Specialist

The wonderful Colin is our IT specialist. He works at SMPS on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Colin is responsible for all our IT needs, including student and staff devices, internet access, maintaining technology in classes (like our TVs), keeping our online databases up-to-date and solving every IT problem that staff and students throw at him. Colin is based in the office on his work days. When not at work, he can often be seen around Docklands and South Melbourne with his wife and two daughters.

Zoe Daniher - Librarian

Hello South Melbourne Primary School community. My name is Zoe and I work in the school library. I grew up in Melbourne and live with my husband and two children. I enjoy spending time with my extended family, running with friends, cake decorating and of course reading! I have a lot of new books waiting to be borrowed when school returns and look forward to seeing everyone in the library this year.  

Maddy Morrison - Learning Specialist (Curriculum)

Hi SMPS Community, 

My name is Maddy. You may have seen me around over the last few years – I have been at SMPS for 3 years teaching Grades 2 and 5. I have also been leading some of our whole-school work including student learning programs, intervention, assessment, reporting and more.  

In 2022, I will be continuing my whole-school work in a full-time capacity by focusing on our curriculum. I will be designing units of work for Prep – Grade 6. I am really excited to introduce our students to history, geography and science in their classrooms, along with improving our English and Mathematics lessons even more. Get ready for some great learning! 

When I’m not at school, I like riding my bike and listening to music. I grew up in Melbourne, in a suburb across the bay called Williamstown. I have two brothers – my older brother Tim and my younger brother Will. I have a beautiful one year old cat called Shepherd who is my pride and joy. He is very clever (I think he is gifted!) so I teach him tricks like how to high-5.

I can’t wait to get to know even more of our SMPS families in 2022. It is going to be a great year! 

Jen Davies - Learning Specialist (Student Engagement and Wellbeing)

Hello Families and Friends of SMPS, 

My name is Miss Jenny. I am the Student Engagement and Wellbeing Leader at our wonderful school. 

I’ve worked at SMPS since we opened in 2018. I taught Prep for 2 years before changing levels to Grade 3/4, and most recently Grade 5. I am now out of the classroom in a non-teaching position supporting students to stay happy, safe and connected at our school. 

I am originally from the UK and I am half Welsh. This summer, I was very lucky to see my Mum, Lynne for the first time in 2.5 years. We had a great time exploring Victoria from the beach to the mountains. 

I enjoy running and exercise because it helps me to feel energised. I also like to try out new recipes and try tasty things. Finally, I love the theatre/any kind of show. 

If we haven’t met yet, I look forward to meeting and getting to know you and if we have, I can’t wait to see your beautiful smiles when we return to school! 

Carmen Britnell - Assistant Principal

Hello Everyone!

My name is Carmen and I am very humbled to be the Assistant Principal of our great School. It is an incredible joy and privilege to work with our delightful students, families, staff and the wider community at SMPS. 

For those who don’t know me yet, I grew up in small coastal town called Anglesea along the Surfcoast in Victoria. I have a son, Lachlan, who is 19 months old. He is delightful and keeps me very busy! I enjoy most forms of music and enjoy going to concerts with my friends and family in my spare time. Growing up I played a lot of tennis so I have enjoyed watching the Australian Open over the last couple of weeks. Thankfully it has been during the school holidays this year as there have been many late nights!

I love working in Education and have experience in a number of diverse Victorian public schools as well as a private International School in the United Arab Emirates. This year I will be working part-time so that I can also care for Lachie on my ‘days off.’ (I’m not sure parents have ‘days off’ though, do we?)

I look forward to welcoming everyone back this week and getting to know many more of our families throughout the year. 

Noel Creece - Principal

What an honour it is to be part of the SMPS family. By family, I include the staff, parents/carers and all of our wonderful students. I believe I am the most privileged principal in the State of Victoria because our people are simply the best. I am extremely excited and energised to welcome in 2022. I believe our care and education of students will go up another level as we continue to strive for improvement.

I live in South Melbourne. I have two adult children. Adrian, my son, lives and works in Western Australia as a civil engineer. My daughter, Alex, lives in Geelong with her dog Ziggy. She is studying her Masters Degree in Creative Writing whilst working in the disabilities sector. I love my two kids passionately - but don't tell them that. I tell them that the both drive me coco-bananas!

Thanks for your trust in our people to take care of your children. We are so lucky to be given this chance by you and I am extremely grateful.