Coming from a family of educators and a passion for working with children, Emma knew from a young age, she wanted to become a teacher. She began a Bachelor of Education at RMIT University in 2003.

During her studies Emma worked for school holiday and before and after school care programs. After graduating in 2006 she commenced her teaching career at Guthrie Street Primary School in Shepparton.

During her time at Guthrie Street Primary Emma taught grades three and four, managed an after school sport program and coordinated a number of camps and excursions. Early in her career Emma’s passion for team teaching, incorporating ICT into the curriculum and promoting healthy lifestyle choices became a strong part of her teaching philosophy.

In 2009 Emma moved back to Melbourne and accepted a position at Donvale Primary School. Emma taught grades three to six throughout her time at the school. She began the school Kilometre Club and encouraged not only the students but the school community to get active. Emma is always looking to improve her knowledge and abilities as an educator. In 2011 she undertook study leave to research effective teaching strategies in the primary classroom.

Outside of the classroom Emma enjoys keeping fit and healthy including running, aerobics and playing netball. She loves to read and spend time with her friends and family. Emma loves teaching and working with children to reach their full potential. She is very excited to be joining the team in 2012 and working within the Acacia community.

After several years working at Canberra Girls’ Grammar School, Kylie is excited to be relocating to Melbourne in 2012 and is equally excited about joining the Acacia College team.

Kylie sometimes jokes that she has never left school.  After completing Year 12 she continued her education at ANU where she completed a Bachelor of Science majoring in Psychology and a Bachelor of Music majoring in Jazz Vocals.  Still keen to continue studying, she enrolled in a Bachelor of Education at ACU and, upon completion, went straight ‘back to school’ working as a classroom teacher.  She has a particular passion for upper primary where she loves to instill a love of learning in her students and encourage them to embrace the many educational opportunities available to them.

During her time at Canberra Girls’ Grammar, Kylie drew on her knowledge of science to coordinate the Science Club and her music background inspired her to start a Jazz Vocal Group that grew into a successful and popular co-curricular ensemble at the school.  In addition, she has taught singing to both adults and children and even does the occasional Jazz gig herself.

Kylie is interested in the inquiry teaching method and has led an Inquiry Action Team through which she implemented a number of initiatives and professional development activities.  She recently obtained accreditation at Proficient Teacher level by the Independent Schools Teacher Accreditation Authority and she found this process allowed her to reflect on her teaching practices and be recognised for her achievements.  

Outside of work, Kylie enjoys the simple things in life; cooking, reading, travelling and listening to music, as well as volunteering for her local bush fire brigade. She is looking forward to participating in the fresh approach to education offered by Acacia College and to engaging with the school community.

Helen completed a Bachelor of Design and Visual Communication at Monash University in 2008, and worked as a freelance graphic designer. She also worked in the hospitality industry.

During this time, she volunteered at an after school program run by Melbourne City Mission providing educational support for underprivileged children. It was here that Helen realised her passion for working with children. Helen then undertook further study and completed a Graduate Diploma in Education, Primary at RMIT.

Since graduating Helen has taught at various schools within the local area, including Independent, Catholic and Government schools teaching Years Prep - 7. This exposure has strengthened her skills in numeracy and literacy teaching; so important for the Early Years. Helen also has experience working with children who have special needs.  

Before securing her position at Acacia College, Helen took the opportunity to travel extensively prior to commencing with us in Term 4 this year.

Helen is now a foundation staff member at Acacia College taking the Year 4 class.  She is very excited about her role and looks forward with enthusiasm to mentoring all the children within her class and making enduring connections with the broader College community.

In her spare time, Helen enjoys furthering her knowledge of education and enjoys travelling and visiting art exhibitions.

Lee Engblom graduated from Victoria College (Rusden Campus) with a Bachelor of Education in Language and Literature with a triple major in Drama. In her early years of teaching at Altona North High School, she co-wrote, co-directed and produced “Doc’s ‘n’ Mocs’s”, a musical play about the social and cultural divide between teenagers in the eastern and western suburbs of Melbourne.

Lee is essentially a story-teller. She has been a specialist Theatre Studies and Drama teacher for many years and has directed productions of all scales. From large musical productions with 200 students to small group devised class room performances. She has supported/directed and coached her students through Shakespeare Festivals, Rock Eisteddfods and Play writing competitions and of course, many VCE Drama solos and Theatre Studies monologues. Most recently she has been teaching VCE English, Drama and Theatre Studies at Eltham College. Lee takes a keen interest in anything musical and has stage managed many music events.

Lee genuinely believes in developing the talents of the individual and inspiring a “powerful, creative inclusiveness” in her classes. She is looking forward to helping develop an amazing performing arts department at Acacia College. She is very excited to be part of a new and innovative school to develop education for this new century. Lee has a strong belief that education should be linked to vocational training and community awareness. She is also looking forward to working in the middle years and developing skills in new areas of educational leadership.

Lee has a great love of camping and music and attends many music festivals and events, she has recently acquired a “Maton” Guitar and she hopes that in future she will be able to play it well.

Amy lives at home with her parents, her older brother James who works as a graphic designer, her younger sister Brooke who is studying fashion at RMIT University, her younger brother Jack who will be completing his final year at high school and her dog Fred.

Amy enjoys a variety of sports including playing basketball, beach volleyball and netball. Amy also coaches a young netball team. However, her overall passion is horse riding.

After completing Year 12, Amy travelled to England for a month to visit relatives. Amy returned home to study her bachelor of Education at RMIT University.

While Amy was completing her third year of university, she travelled to Nepal to complete one of her teaching placements. Amy volunteered at Shree Ratna Jyoti English Boarding School, teaching Nepalese students and working with the staff. While in Nepal, Amy stayed at Tibetan Refugee camp with a host family. Amy completed lots of site seeing and participated in the Tibetan culture by eating their food, living in their home and attending a variety of celebrations.

During Amy’s fourth and final year at RMIT University, she got engaged to Daniel Theuma, who works as an accountant at Incitec Pivot. She will be getting married in December 2013 and for her honeymoon plans to tour Europe over the Christmas holidays.

Amy completed her final teaching placement at Acacia College, working in a grade 5/6 classroom.  Amy thoroughly enjoyed her placement at Acacia and was therefore thrilled to be offered a teaching position.
Amy is looking forward to starting her teaching career at Acacia College in the new year and is looking forward to meeting her new students.

Marilyn’s long term goal was always to become a teacher, so she followed her dream and completed a Fashion Design course at Emily McPherson College (now RMIT). This gave her a clear pathway into Education.  Her studies continued to include qualifications from RMIT for Applied Science in Food Technology, William Angliss for Hospitality and Deakin University for Career Development.

Marilyn’s teaching career and leadership roles have had many exciting twists and turns, from Fashion to Food Technology, to Hospitality, to Career Development and Vocational Education and Training.  This included stints in State Secondary Schools, to Catholic Education and the TAFE sector.  Most recently Marilyn has been managing several VET Programs.

Marilyn loves teaching Food Technology and experiencing students’ enthusiasm when creating their own dishes, gaining an appreciation for food and its nutritional benefits and sharing this with others.

Marilyn’s expertise and experience has allowed her to excel in teaching at the VCE level.  Her VCE Food Technology students have always achieved excellent results and she feels that her work has made a significant difference. Likewise, providing support and guidance with career advice and assisting students plan their personal pathways is a pleasure and honour for her.

One of Marilyn’s greatest achievements was to be awarded the David Osborne Award for Regional Excellence in Career Development (Northern Region) in 2009. This was an acknowledgement from her peers of the contribution she has made in this vital area of counselling.

Marilyn’s ultimate goal in guiding students through their Career Development at Acacia College will be knowing that they have achieved their educational and career aspirations. But more importantly, knowing that they have resilience and the capacity to manage change throughout their lives.

Outside school, Marilyn’s personal pleasure is creating something very special using fine embroidery techniques. She loves to travel with her husband has fond memories of trips throughout Europe and Asia. At home she is happy climbing a ladder, using hand and power tools and painting. They both love to build and are proud of their achievements.

Marilyn is very excited to be joining the Acacia team and sharing her passions for Food Technology and Career Development with the students and their families.

Richard’s interest in the Performing Arts began at an early age and he has enjoyed continued involvement in performing and recording music ever since.  He sees teaching music as an extension of this passion which he always strives to bring to the classroom.

Richard graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1999 with a Bachelor of Music and a Bachelor of Teaching.  He has taught classroom and instrumental music and conducted various ensembles for over fifteen years at Geelong Christian College, The Boarder Music Camp, South Gippsland Schools Music Program, Warwick Park Performing Arts Academy (London) and Billanook College.

In his previous appointment at Billanook College, Richard conducted and coordinated concert bands, jazz bands and rock bands and played a pivotal role in instrumental ensemble development.  He believes that the teaching of music should not be confined to curricular classroom experience but should be extended to the personal development of the individual.  He is therefore a very keen advocate of extra curricular music.  Throughout his career, Richard has demonstrated this with Training Band and Senior Wind Band Programs, with the rehearsals and performances of College musical productions, Stage and Jazz Bands, DJ clubs, Ska/Reggae and Rock Bands, Gospel choirs, and community and school performances at venues such as the Melbourne School Band’s Festival, Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, and the Royal Albert Hall.

As a performing musician, majoring in the saxophone, Richard has played and recorded a wide range of styles with a variety of groups.  He can also play the flute, clarinet, drums and guitar (to varying degrees of success!).  He has taught woodwind (flute, clarinet and saxophone) to students from junior primary to senior secondary levels.  
Over the past few years Richard has thoroughly enjoyed the challenge of broadening his teaching methods to include Media Studies and has taught and developed innovative programs.  He feels that this subject is increasing in its inherent value due to the power of the media’s influence on our children.  Richard finds that the links between media literacy and media creativity to be extremely exciting and interesting and this is an area in which he is working to further develop his skills.

Richard looks forward to joining the Acacia community and being part of the early stages of an exciting journey.

Chloe’s natural and infectious love for developing and moulding the minds of our future has inspired her to join the education system, and begin a career as a teacher.

Chloe has an acute appreciation for the most recent developments in teaching practice and curriculum, having graduated from her Bachelor of Education at RMIT in 2011.

Working intensively within diverse and dynamic classrooms across her pre-service placements, Chloe has mastered the crucial skills of patience and persistence in achieving the best result with each individual student. Furthering her commitment, Chloe has also spent consistent time across the past three years in the vital role as a tutor to a number of students. This has involved working to increase their growth of learning and classroom satisfaction whilst simultaneously refining her own teaching and planning skills.

Chloe places enormous importance on knowing and understanding her students’ individual needs and abilities. She formats her classroom planning on this basis with the aim of engaging, challenging and stimulating each child in an inclusive environment, appreciating that no two students are the same.

In her personal time, Chloe thoroughly enjoys traveling abroad and intimately experiencing different cultures and lifestyles. A keen participant in team sports, Chloe is a loyal member of both social netball and basketball clubs and also loves visiting the beach with her family.

Chloe is thrilled to have become a member of the Acacia College teaching team and looks forward to growing as a teacher within the school community.

A twenty-two year teaching career in the State Education System enabled Alan to develop a range of skills encompassing the fields of English, Drama and Humanities.

Throughout this period several promotions saw Alan take on leadership positions variously as Head of Humanities, Acting Vice Principal and Timetabler for a school of over 1000 students and 120 teachers. Furthermore a highlight of Alan’s teaching experience was being awarded a Teacher Exchange position as an Australian Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Complimenting  his teaching career was an opportunity to serve as an Education Officer at the Tullamarine Regional Office managing the placement of Emergency Teachers.

Added qualifications saw Alan move into the realm of Financial Planning for a period of seventeen years. This experience encouraged him to share this knowledge and information with children as a vital preparation for life in the wider world.

Commencing with Acacia College in 2012 will enable Alan to achieve two desires; to give back to the education of children, and, to prepare and present a whole new commerce elective subject area. As he says, “Hopefully, the end result will be an opportunity for Acacia College students to reconcile the understanding of Financial Matters balanced with the realisation that 'Family'... matters”.

Janet Kelso has wanted to teach since she was in Grade 2 and adored her teacher. After graduating from Monash University, she taught in several secondary colleges in country Victoria before leaving teaching to run her own gift business. The call of the classroom was too strong, however, and Janet returned to teaching at Camberwell Anglican Girls Grammar where she taught History, Asian Studies and English to VCE. Janet was appointed to the position of VCE Coordinator at Camberwell and oversaw some outstanding VCE results.

Janet has always loved travelling after being an Exchange Student to the Philippines for a year while still at school. As soon as she completed her schooling she took at job with the Bureau of Statistics to fund her overseas travel. She has travelled extensively through Asia and Europe and worked with a mission hospital in the New Guinea Highlands before returning to Melbourne to complete her tertiary studies in teaching.

A passion for drama saw Janet direct the musical ‘Godspell’ in her second year of teaching and she has been involved in amateur theatre groups both as actor and director. In her early years of teaching Janet was chosen to take part in a Federal Government initiative introducing computers to the Humanities curriculum. This led to a grant for a class set of laptops for her to research the impact of computers in the classroom on student learning and engagement. Janet was instrumental in developing several in-house publishing programs for students and is very excited by the innovative use of technology at Acacia to enhance student learning.

Janet comes to Acacia College from Plenty Valley Christian College where she has held the positions of Head of Humanities and most recently, VCE Coordinator. Janet is looking forward to contributing to the unfolding College journey with Acacia staff and students as we head towards our first Year 12 class of 2015.

Linden completed a Bachelor of Arts majoring in Media Arts & Production from the University of Technology Sydney, NSW in 2002, the highlight of which was a six-month exchange program in Toronto, Canada. After working for several years in film and television production in Western Australia, Linden completed his Diploma of Secondary Education at Notre Dame University, WA.

Since moving to Melbourne in 2005, Linden has worked in a variety of schools and taught in a broad range of learning areas. His most recent position was as Head of Visual Arts at a northern suburbs Catholic college. There, he drew on his film and television experience to establish strong Studio Arts (photography) and Media programs, and gained experience in Design & Technology as a woodwork teacher.

Linden loves working with young people and is often inspired by their enthusiasm and creativity. He is well aware of the critical role that teachers play in shaping students’ lives, and his approach to teaching is to get to know his students well, in order to form a strong relationship and a mutual respect. He knows that this fosters a good learning environment and brings out the best in each individual.

Linden is passionate about the Arts, and counts photography and filmmaking amongst his interests. He also loves the great outdoors and enjoying nature; on any given weekend you will find him working in his garden, surfing, fishing or cycling.

Linden comes to Acacia College after two years as a full-time, stay-at-home dad. While challenging at times, he has thoroughly enjoyed this experience. He has become part of a close network of other fathers doing the same, and has a wonderfully strong bond with his young daughter. He is looking forward to returning to his profession, and is excited about leading the Visual Arts faculty at Acacia College.

Teacher - Junior School

Leonie has come to us with an extensive history in education over the last fourteen years where her priority has been to develop education as a strong component of her community. Her focus has been to establish purposeful connections between schools and local communities in recognition that strong partnerships improve outcomes for students.

Leonie has held many senior leadership roles throughout her career, particularly in the area of student welfare and parent connections.  Her keen interest in this area encouraged her to undertake a Masters in Educational Leadership where her focus was to develop a deeper understanding of parent connectedness to secondary schools as a means of improving student engagement and outcomes.

Leonie is a creative ideas person who comes to Acacia College with lots of energy, experience and enthusiasm to develop our Food Technology Centre as an example of excellence within the region. Her understanding of pedagogy and importance to real life applications will allow all children to be competent food practitioners.

Leonie also has a deep understanding of school organisation and will be a great asset in the Daily Organising role of staff within the College.

As a local resident and mother of two adolescents, Leonie is excited about the opportunity of assisting to strengthen Acacia College as the key educational institution in the Mernda region.

Whilst Tim excelled as a student of humanities at school and
graduated with distinction from La Trobe University in 2003, he had an adventurous streak which saw him move to live in Indonesia. It was here that he discovered his
passion for teaching when he commenced teaching English.

He spent some time assisting an education program called “Semut Ilmu” which translates to “ant knowledge”; a grass roots group that promotes literacy and provides affordable books in Java.  Tim also ran a free English class for poor urban youth in Surabaya during this time.  To compliment this work Tim was a full time language instructor at the Indonesian Australian language Foundation.

Tim has recently
returned from Java Indonesia, where he has been teaching since early 2008. He had the unique experience of
living with a Javanese family, which gave him the opportunity to further develop
his language skills. It was also a highly valuable cultural learning
experience.

Tim’s other adventurous pursuits include sailing on traditional vessels. He has worked as a watch leader on a number of sail training and tall ships. He is also actively involved in martial arts, and currently studies Aikido. One of the most rewarding experiences in Java for Tim was practicing the Indonesian martial art of Pencak Silat in the style of Persirai Diri.

Tim is passionate about his work and looks forward very much to the opportunity to share his
experiences and knowledge of Indonesian culture with young Australians.