Introducing our wonderful new staff members

A huge St Helena welcome to all of our new staff.  We have been fortunate to recruit some wonderful new members to our team.

LAURA WARD

Laura joins us as a teacher of Food Technology and English.  She has previously taught at Whittlesea Primary School, Mt Ridley Secondary College and Apollo Parkways Primary School.   Some of our new Year 7 students were very pleased to see a familiar face from Apollo Parkways in the Agora today, a testament to the obvious affection Ms Ward's students have for her.  Laura's first impression of St Helena is that it is a very big school, but a welcoming one with "lovely staff".  Laura wanted to be a teacher ever since she was a small child.  She is a mum to six year old identical twin boys, and a 21 year old daughter.  Laura loves reading, baking and sleeping!

 PING DU

We are excited to have Ping Du join our Maths faculty.  Ping is experienced in teaching Maths from Year 7 to Year 12.  She has found St Helena positive and welcoming.   Ping has a passion for teaching Maths and is keen to make a difference in students' lives.  Ping is an avid pet lover with 2 cats of her own and 2 street cats that she cares for.

DAVID SYLVESTER

David teaches English and Humanities and has previously taught at Maryborough Education Centre, making a huge move to Melbourne to join the St Helena team.   David says the school is "so welcoming" and his colleagues are very helpful.  He is excited to get to know his students.   David became a teacher in order to  help others, and to share his passion for history.    He lived in Berlin for 5 years completing his undergraduate and honours degrees in history.   His thesis was on the history of alcohol in East Germany.  While studying, he worked as a tour guide showing tourists the historical sights of Berlin as well as a former concentration camp north of the city.  

LAURA DODDS

Laura is filling the important leadership role of Middle School Leader, as well as teaching Maths and Psychology.  She joins us from Roxburgh College.   Laura is struck by the clear processes and policies at St Helena, as well as the welcoming staff.  Laura has a strong passio for helping those who may not have someone on their side, and is a big advocate of the public education system.  She particularly enjoys working with at-risk youth.

MALLORY MCNALLY

Mallory has taught at Mentone Girls Secondary College and Richmond High School before joining us as a teacher of Legal Studies and Humanities.  Mallory already thinks her new workplace is a great school, finding the workplace highly organised and her colleagues welcoming.   Mallory has always loved school and became a teacher to share her passion for legal studies and humanities with others.   An interesting fact about Mallory is that she used to play water polo!

PAUL HAYDOCK

Paul is joining our dynamic Design and Technology Team, and will be also heading up our Hands on Learning program.  Paul's teaching history includes at Montmorency Secondary College and Ivanhoe Grammar School, but majorly 15 years at East Doncaster Secondary College.  Paul has found the staff here friendly and accommodating.  He has a passion to make a positive impact on students' lives and wants to inspire, mentor and guide young people to help them reach their full potential.  He has a passion for the Design Technology subject area and wants to share his knowledge and enthusiasm with his students.  Paul has a very interesting life outside of school - he has travelled through Peru and visited the Inca lines as well as hiking to Machu Pichu.  He has bungee jumped and sky dived, been shark cage diving and has his snorkelling licence! 

JENNIFER TRINH

Jennifer joins our dedicated Wellbeing Team as our Mental Health Practitioner.  Jennifer has noticed how welcoming and supportive of one another our staff is. She says staff are considerate of their team and workplace and show compassion for others.  She can see that St Helena is keen to build on our strengths and improve, and says it is clear we consider everyone in our community.     Jennifer has a clear passion to help people and work with young people and families.  On her first day at St Helena she became an auntie! 

BENJAMIN EGAN

Ben joins us in the Maths/Science domain, with a specialty in Physics.  He has found everything super organised at the college so far, and the staff "super nice to me".  Ben was inspired by his own Maths and Physics teachers to join the teaching profession.  Out of school he is part of a Futsal team that performs absolutely atrociously.   Even though they always come last, Ben loves the camaraderie and competition.  

ADAM ROMERIL

This is Adam's first teaching position, and he joins our English and Humanities domains.  Adam has experience in outdoor education and teaching English as a second language although this is first year working for the Department of Education. Adam's first impressions of St Helena are of "a highly organised school that supports consistency, and which has high expectations of its students."  All the staff Adam has met so far have been friendly, supportive and competent.   Adam says he already feels at home in the physical environmentof St Helena, being situated amongst hills and trees.  Adam decided to enter teaching after he developed an appreciation of how literature and philosophy have the power to shape one's life and understanding of the world.   He believes that encouraging students to understand and engage with the values that inform thier lives is important for empowering them in adulthood.  He also believes that challenging students to develop their capacity to articulate themselves well and enthusiastically is something that builds self confidence, something Adam benefitted from in his own schooling and hopes his students will too.  Adam has lived and worked in Moscow teaching English as a second language.    

 JANE MILTON

Jane has taught English for 20 years, across all year levels from 7 to 12, as well as some Humanities.  Jane has found the staff friendly and welcoming, and the school well organised.  She is looking forward to meeting the students as she has heard very positive reviews!  Jane loves working with young people, which inspired her decision to enter teaching.   In the lockdown years, Jane learned to play the guitar and formed a band with a group of her female friends.   She says it was "only a cover band" but it was a lot of fun and demonstrated that being a "lifelong learner" is both possible and empowering.  

NATASHA POLLARD

Natasha teaches both Maths and Science, with a specialty in Biology. She holds the important role of Numeracy Learning Specialist at St Helena, and has previously held leadership roles in a number of schools in Australia and in the UK.  She has found St Helena friendly and supportive, and she sees a leadership team that cares about wellbeing and people who want to continually improve.  Despite these positive first impressions, she is quite scared by Teams and One Note!  (Don't worry Natasha - we all were overwhelmed by these at the start!)  Natasha's road to teaching was kind of accidental - she really didn't know what else to do, but she was coaching gymnastics at the time and liked it.   She was once a judge on a (terrible z-list celebrity) TV program called "The Games". 

LEIF STREET

We were fortunate to pick up Leif as late recruit just as school returned.  Leif joins our Performing Arts Department teaching Drama,  and he is also qualified to teach Theatre Studies and Media.   Leif qualified as a teacher at the end of 2023 but spent 2024 travelling and casual relief teaching at Rosanna Primary, Greensborough Secondary College and here at St Helena.  Leif has found our team welcoming - everyone has been supportive and offered to go out of their way to assist him settle in.  Leif entered teaching because it was an opportunity to share and explore his passion for the arts with others.  Like many others, Leif's high school teachers were pivotal in shaping him into the person he is today and he wants to pass that on by playing a role in students' education.  Something interesting about Leif is that he loves punk rock music!  One of his hobbies is to photograph various gigs around Melbourne.  

SANAZ PEZHMAN

Sanaz joins our team of Learning Support Officers in the Inclusion office.   She has worked in the disability and inclusion area in primary schools prior to joining the team at St Helena.  Sanaz has found St Helena warm and welcoming, well organised, super friendly and respectful.   She says the environment is "so supportive and positive" and "encourages people to be their best with a great can-do attitude".  Sanaz believes support plays a crucial role in shaping the educational journey of students.  It provides them with the guidance, encouragement and resources they need to navigate academic challenges, overcome obstacles, and achieve their goals.  Whether it's a parent, teacher, mentor or a dedicated support program, having a strong support system can make all the difference to a student's success.  

Sanaz is interested and quick in learning new things, especially maths and new languages.  Communication is her priority.  She loves to travel allover the world to face new cultures and challenges.  She has positive can-do attitude, and values punctuality and self discipline.  

LIA AVGOULADAKIS

Lia is our new Technology Assistant.   She applied for this position as she loves working with timber and supporting students who want to pursue a hobby or career in carpentry or a similar trade.  She loves to renovate in her spare time, enjoys reading true crime stories and has found the St Helena staff really friendly and supportive.  

We are fortunate to have a great team enthusiastic about teaching and supporting our students in 2025!