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Monash School Reviewer team
The role of the School Reviewer
For more information on the School Reviewer Code of Practice refer to School Review Guidelines, Appendix D: Code of Practice ReviewersMembers of the Monash School Review team are listed below. Please click on individual names if you wish to find out more information about a particular reviewer’s background, expertise, and experience. Please contact us if you wish to get in touch with a reviewer or discuss the school review process.
Ms Anita ForsythAnita Forsyth is currently a senior lecturer in the Education Faculty at Monash University. Her teaching and research interests include: curriculum, pedagogy and assessment; school organisation, improvement and leadership and Economics and Business education. She regularly speaks at professional learning seminars and conferences for educators locally, nationally and internationally. Anita is currently Chair of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority’s (VCAA) VCE Economics Exam Setting Panel as well as being VCE Economics Chief Assessor. Anita is a school council president of a P-12 school in Melbourne’s south eastern suburbs. Ms Jenny Brown
Jenny Brown has recently retired as the Co-ordinator of Pre-service Education in the Faculty of Education (Clayton campus) responsible for 700 students in undergraduate Education and post graduate Diploma of Education (Secondary) teacher preparation courses. She is also involved in professional development of practising teachers. Her own research interests are in Geographical Education, civics and citizenship education and pre-service teacher education. Before joining the staff at Monash Jenny worked in government schools as a teacher of Geography and as a Learning Area co-ordinator for Humanities. Jenny is an active participant in, and workshop presenter for, the Geography Teachers Association of Victoria and the Project for Enhancing Effective Learning (PEEL). She has been the Victorian university representative on the exam setting panel for Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) Geography and a judge of GeoQuest Australia (an Australia-wide Geography competition for senior secondary students). She was a critical friend for the Westall/Springvale/Clayton cluster – Improving students' visual literacies. She has extensive experience as a school council member in both government and non-government schools. She was accredited as a school reviewer in 2006. Assoc Prof Len CairnsLen Cairns is an Associate professor in the Faculty of Education at Monash University. He has been a fully accredited School Reviewer for the Victorian Department for over a decade and has extensive review experience in Secondary, Primary and Small Schools. Len has particular expertise and experience in Leadership and the curriculum area of Literacy, particularly the Early Years and has spent many years in rural areas with strong community linkages. Len’s areas of developmental work include working with Principals and Aspiring Principals on Strategic Planning and the implementation of strategies for the improvement of Student Learning. Len teaches at Monash in the Masters programmes for School leadership, Organisational Leadership and administers and delivers the DEECD Executive Leadership programme for all current Executives in DEECD at the levels of General Manager, Deputy Secretary and Secretary of the Department. Ms Zenda ClarkIn addition to her initial qualification as a Primary School teacher, Zenda holds a Master of Educational Policy and Administration and a Bachelor of Special Education. Since retiring from the Department in 2000, Zenda has had extensive experience as a School Reviewer. She has been involved in Continuous Improvement and Diagnostic reviews and has been requested by several schools to participate in their Negotiated reviews. Over the past eight years Zenda has provided special, primary and secondary schools with professional development in implementing change, improving performance and student and staff wellbeing. She has also been the coordinator and presenter of several short courses for Monash University. Assoc Prof Deb CorriganDeborah Corrigan is currently an Associate Professor in the Education Faculty at Monash University. Her teaching and research interests include: curriculum, pedagogy and assessment; school organisation, improvement and leadership and Science and Chemistry education. She regularly speaks at professional learning seminars and conferences for educators locally, nationally and internationally. Deborah has been with the Monash University Faculty of Education School Review program for 9 years and has conducted 40 plus primary and secondary school reviews, of all types (Negotiated, Continuous and Diagnostic). Deborah has worked with Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority’s (VCAA) VCE Chemistry Reference Group and Exam Setting Panel. She has worked with VIT in the mentoring of beginning teachers Deborah has been a Government Primary School Council President for 12 years, and currently serves as a School Councillor for a P-12 school in Melbourne’s south eastern suburbs and has service on another P-12 school council. She has also worked extensively with both metropolitan and rural communities in education. Ms Avis Grahame
Initially trained as a primary school teacher, and then transferred to secondary education where she taught Commerce/Maths in five different schools including country and suburban schools. Later, Avis progressed to Principal before taking a position as RPC/SEO in 1997. As SEO, Avis supported 45 schools including Primary, Special, SDS and Secondary with a strong representation of students with LBOTE. A valued additional responsibility was the provision of support for school councils region-wide. Mr Bob NealBob Neal is a reviewer with considerable experience and understanding of Victorian schools. Bob has had over 35 years of involvement in education in Victoria in a wide range of roles, including Regional Director in Eastern Metropolitan Region and manager of several school improvement and curriculum projects. Along with his teaching experience, these roles provide the skills and expertise that will enable Bob to conduct a successful review at your school this year. Bob will work with you and your school community to ensure that the 2008 review is a positive process for your school and that the results will provide the basis for a productive strategic plan for 2009 and beyond. Mr Gordon Pratt (currently on leave 2009)
In more recent years he has had direct experience in school improvement and accreditation, specifically as a member of the Council of International Schools and the International Baccalaureate Organisation. Gordon has worked as a principal coach and adviser to schools on improvement strategies, in a range of school settings. Dr Phil RileyPhil has had a long career in schools. He has taught every year level from Grade 2 to VCE, and spent the last 4 years of his school career as Deputy Principal and acting Principal. Whilst continuing to teach full-time, Phil trained as a psychologist part-time, feeling his teacher training left out or skimmed over important information that he needed to perform his role. Beyond the school setting, Phil spent 2½ years at La Trobe University where he taught Mathematics, Educational Philosophy, Person-Centred Teaching and Counselling skills, Holistic Education and Psychology at post graduate level, mainly to pre-service primary and secondary teachers. Phil joined the Faculty of Education at Monash University in 2006 teaching in the Master in School Leadership and the Master in Organisational Leadership programs. Phil’s PhD entitled, To Stir with Love: Attachment, Teacher Behaviour and Classroom Management, is based on the concepts of adult attachment theory applied to educational contexts. Phil has presented this work at international education and psychology conferences and has been published in the refereed proceedings. Philip also works as a consultant in schools undergoing change processes, experiencing difficulties with HR, classroom discipline, and leadership coaching. He is also a registered psychologist. Mr Doug Robb
In 1990 he was appointed Principal of Flemington High School and dealt with the issues associated with a small school, a language centre and a highly diverse student population including a significant proportion of students recently arrived in Australia. Towards the end of 1992 he was required to close the school. In 1993 Doug was appointed as founding College Principal of Essendon Keilor College and remained until his retirement in December 2006. In 2007 Doug taught in the faculty of education at Monash University and worked with a team of staff to deliver a PD program for teacher leaders from Primary and Secondary schools. He also worked as a “University Colleague” for Victoria University in three primary schools in the western suburbs. Recent Principal Experience:
Mr Tony RossTony Ross is a former Primary Teacher, and Principal of both Primary and Secondary schools. He was also a SEO in SMR. In more recent times Tony was Manager of the Monash University schools Unit and is well known as a consultant in many schools particularly in the fields of Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organisational Heath. Tony recently worked for AUSAID as Educational Leadership Advisor in the Philippines. Tony has reviewed more than 100 Victorian schools across all Regions. Mr Graeme Seamer
Through the range of roles he has undertaken over the years, including ten years as a senior education officer, he has gained extensive experience with primary, secondary and special school communities. Ms Marg Skermer
When Marg was the Manager, School Development Unit - Accountability in the Goulburn-North Eastern Region, Department of Education and Training, her key role was the implementation of policies, plans and procedures relating to a number of the key educational initiatives outlined by the Blueprint for Government Schools. She was responsible for the carriage of Flagship Strategy 5: Teacher Professional Development: Flagship Strategy 6: School Improvement and aspects of Flagship Strategy 3: Building Leadership Capacity involving leadership development, succession planning, coaching and mentoring. Ms Sue Slater (on leave 2009-2010)Sue Slater is an educational consultant and school reviewer. The focus for her work in Victoria, USA and Asia is school improvement and leadership development. From 2004 to 2006, Sue worked as an educational consultant in USA in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvanian schools, districts and regions. In this role she worked at a school, regional and district level providing professional development and support for literacy coaches, apprentices and principal teams. Sue was formerly a Senior Education Officer (1998 -2004) in the Department of Employment Education and Training, Victoria, Australia, where she was responsible for a network of 53 schools. Concurrently she was the Curriculum Manager for the Southern Metropolitan Region, leading and managing a staff of twenty two curriculum consultants. Sue worked for the Department of Education and Training(Victoria) for over 30 years and during that time she has held a variety of roles as a high school principal, assistant principal, consultant, lecturer and English, Social Studies and Commerce teacher. Dr Toni StroudDr Stroud has a strong research background in the field of Educational Administration and extensive experience in school leadership. She has taught in classrooms from prep to year 9, with a special interest in science education, and has enjoyed fourteen years as principal of three state primary schools. Over the last six years she has undertaken many school reviews in both the independent and state school sectors. Dr Stroud is keen to work with your school in acknowledging and celebrating the successes of the last triennium and in identifying goals and key improvement strategies for the next strategic plan. Dr Libby TudballDr. Libby Tudball is a Senior Lecturer in Education, at Monash University, Clayton, Victoria. Recently she has been appointed as Director of Professional Placements across all campuses 2009-2010. She teaches Social and Environmental method and other core education subjects and supervises higher degree research students. Her publications include school curriculum resources, teacher professional learning programs and academic articles. Her research interests include the internationalisation of curriculum, teacher professional learning, civics and citizenship and values education. Libby is the President of the Social Education Association of Australia, a life member of Social Education Victoria, and is actively involved in teacher professional learning. She is currently working with five primary and two secondary schools in the National Values Education Good Practice schools project, and works as a School Reviewer for the Victorian Department of Education and Training. Ms Bronwyn van AmerongenBronwyn trained and qualified as a Secondary teacher in Victoria in the 1960's. Her school education began in a small (one room) rural school in country Victoria and Matriculation was completed at a large country high school. Bronwyn taught in State Secondary schools throughout the 70's and 80's. During that time she became increasingly interested in student welfare and consequently trained as a Student Welfare Co-ordinator. She was employed in that role for 8 years before taking up a position in a P-12 Independent Girls' School. Until her retirement from teaching at the end of 2005, Bronwyn spent 14 years in independent schools in Melbourne and Sydney and fulfilled a number of roles including Director of Pastoral Care and Deputy Principal. As well as her role as a School Reviewer for the DEECD, Bronwyn also teaches sessional work at Monash University (Peninsula and Caulfield campuses) in the Education Faculty. Ms Winsome Warren
In addition to her teaching qualification Win has a Graduate Diploma in Special Education and a Master of Education. She was successful in gaining a place in the first round of High Performing Principals. She has been active in the Western Metropolitan Region Leadership Development team, has been convenor of the WMR Principal Class Conference for eight years and has been involved in a number of mentoring programs. As both a teacher and a Principal, Win has had extensive experience in the Review process, has led the writing of Self Evaluations, been a participant in the Strategic Plan ‘Road Test’ and has led the development of subsequent Strategic Plans and Annual Implementation Plans. Mr Martin Winfield
As well as direct involvement with schools in the area of school improvement, Martin has a passion for Leadership Development. As Chair of the EMR Leadership Development Taskforce he led processes which resulted in development of a comprehensive leadership development strategy for the Eastern Region. Martin has presented in a wide variety of leadership programs at the region and school level. This experience has included presenting at conferences both in Australia and overseas, delivering programs such as the Leading Teacher Development Program and Practical Leadership Program (in conjunction with Monash University Education Faculty), facilitating the “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” program and working directly with school staff and leadership teams.
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Avis recently retired after 40 years service with the Department of Education, including 32 years in schools and the last 8 years in the Region/ Centre.
Gordon is an experienced educator having taught in both local and international schools at primary and secondary levels. His 40 year career in education commenced in small schools and recently concluded at Brighton PS, where he was the principal for the past 11 years.
Doug taught in a variety of Victorian urban and rural secondary schools from 1968 to 1989.
Graeme is a former secondary teacher and principal who retired in January 2004 after nearly 40 years with the Department. Since being accredited as a school reviewer in 2005, he has reviewed a substantial number of schools as part of his ongoing interest in education generally, and in support to school councils, principals and teachers.
Marg Skermer is an experienced coach, educator, administrator, facilitator and trainer. She holds qualifications including a Certificate in Professional Coaching - CoachCorp®, Seven Habits of Highly Effective People Presenter and Myers Briggs Type Indicator Accreditation and is a member of the International Coaches Federation. Marg has experience as a teacher, principal, manager at the regional level and consultant in a range of educational settings: small and large rural primary schools, large metropolitan primary schools, special education settings and secondary colleges.
Win retired at the start of 2009 following a teaching career of 17 years with the Department followed by a further 13 years as a Principal. Win’s experience has been entirely in primary schools, starting with her initial teacher training and teaching experience in New Zealand. This was followed by many years of teaching in both country and metropolitan areas of Victoria. 
Martin commenced his teaching career in 1981 in the Northern Metropolitan Region. He first became a school principal at Manningham Primary School in 1994, followed by four years as principal of Tinternvale Primary School in Bayswater North. In 2000, Martin joined the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Team as a Regional Principal Consultant and has worked as a Senior Education Officer until May 2008.