Melanie Smith has been appointed as Head of Turner House at Firbank Grammar
Over the last 20 years working in educational environments, Melanie has gained leadership experience through facilitating learning, managing teams and working to build effective learning communities. Melanie joined Firbank in 2014 as the PYP Coordinator, focussed on coordinating the learning and teaching program at Turner House from ELC through to year 6. A member of the Campus Leadership Team, Melanie is responsible to develop, coordinate and implement both the STEM program and Social and Emotional Learning Plan for Turner House. Melanie is responsible for the management of the campus assessment schedule, encompassing monitoring assessment and reporting. Additionally, Melanie provides leadership of the Staff Professional Development Program, reviews staff performance improvement plans where required, and facilitates staff planning. Currently, Melanie is also fulfilling the position of Acting Co-Head of Campus, requiring her to be involved in additional activities such as budget planning and management, liaison with the admissions team, regulatory compliance, and management of staff and student wellbeing.
In addition to her responsibilities at Firbank, since 2014 Melanie has been a Workshop Leader / School Evaluator with the International Baccalaureate Educator Network. In this role Melanie leads PYP workshops for Early Years and Primary, conducts PYP authorisation and evaluation visits, and conducts ongoing educational research.
Prior to joining Firbank Melanie was a Leading Teacher with Brighton Primary School. A member of the Leadership Team, Melanie supported staff in the implementation of the PYP, provided school and community-based Prep information sessions, and mentored graduate teachers. During this period, Melanie established weekly individual learning meetings for all students to support personalised learning programs in Prep.
From 2007 to 2012 Melanie provided consulting services aimed at developing Professional Development packages to suit individual school contexts. She also planned and presented workshops and conference sessions with Pearson Academy aimed at both primary and secondary teachers across Australia.