From the Principal
One aspect of leadership that I thoroughly enjoy is the opportunity to develop exceptional teams of staff across the School. Many of you would be aware of Jim Collins’ seminal work in studying the traits of organisations that enabled them to move from being ‘Good’ to ‘Great’. One key characteristic was the ability to get the ‘right people in the right seats on the bus’. People who share the values of the organisation and who powerfully believe in its vision and mission.
It is for this reason that I am very pleased that we have appointed Mary-Lou O’Brien to an Executive role as the Director of Digital Innovation, from the start of Term 3. Mary-Lou is currently Director of a Digital Transformation Consultancy, following her role as the Chief Digital Officer at Melbourne Girls Grammar. She also held the position of Director of e-Learning at MGG and was Deputy Director of the Centre for Educational Enterprise.
Prior to working in Secondary Education, Mary-Lou was the Commercial Development Officer, Lecturer and Post Grad Course Convenor in the School of Business at Swinburne University. She has a Master of Business (eBusiness and Communication) from Swinburne University, is very highly respected as a leader in Digital Innovation and Strategic Planning and was a finalist in the 2018 CIO of the year award, as well as being selected on the 2018 Educators Hot List.
Mary-Lou will bring a wealth of leadership experience, passion, drive and energy to the School and is excited to be joining Redlands as we embark on implementing our new Strategic Plan.
One of the Strategic Drivers in the soon to be released plan is focused on the Culture of Innovation in the School and the implementation of an Entrepreneurial and Innovative Thinking Program across the Senior and Junior Campuses. We look forward to partnering with the broader community as we develop this program over time. Futurist Tony Seba describes society moving from the extractive age to the creative age and we are all aware of the impact that digital technology and AI will have on future careers. Whilst not all Redlands students will be entrepreneurs in the future, they will all benefit from developing their creative thinking, innovative thinking and problem-solving skills.
On Wednesday this week a large group of Year 8 students had the opportunity to take part in a Futurepreneurs Masterclass program and our Year 5 and 6 students will all be taking part in the Kidspreneur program prior to the end of term, with both programs run by Entropolis.
It was wonderful to celebrate the School’s rich history last week through our Foundation Day service on Friday, with guest speaker Tess Haubrich (2007 Arts Captain) powerfully conveying the positive impact Redlands had on her development and future career path as an actor. Whilst the list of her films and the actors she had worked with was impressive, it was amusing to see the ‘in awe’ reaction of the students when Chris Hemsworth was mentioned by the Deputy Principal. My thanks also to the group of Year 8 students who developed a memorable Heritage Week Assembly in partnership with Archivist Marguerite Gillezeau, which was presented to Junior and Secondary School students.
Mr Stephen Webber
Photo Caption: We were delighted to welcome guest speaker Tess Haubrich (2007 Arts Captain) to our Foundation Day service last Friday.