As we bring the year to a close, we say goodbye to some members of our staff as they move into new roles in different places in 2025. We also share exciting news about new roles at Kuyper next year for some familiar faces.
After fifteen years of faithful service, Mrs Elizabeth Porter will be pursuing her passion and gifting for teaching high-level senior science at another Christian school closer to home. Elizabeth is a much-loved member of our teaching staff whose generous and caring heart has blessed staff and students alike. Her keen mind and love for both science and Jesus have kept us all on our toes, and we will miss her extraordinary capacity for conversation peppered with puns. She has been a significant asset to our senior students in their HSC preparation. We are particularly grateful for Elizabeth’s work in establishing our Stage 6 Science program and as a Senior Core teacher. Elizabeth has been lime-hearted to the core, supporting every school activity in whatever capacity was required. We know that she will be a great blessing to her new school community.
We also bid farewell to two of our Teacher’s Aides, Mr Will Ramsay and Mr Ben Speirs, who have been working with us part-time while studying.
Will and Ben have been an absolute asset to our Diversability team over the past two years, providing support in both Primary and Secondary classrooms and working one-on-one with students. Special thanks to Will for providing Math tutoring for our high school students. Both Will and Ben are applying for conditional accreditation to commence teaching. We hope to see Will around the school in a casual teaching capacity next year.
Some other familiar faces will join us in permanent positions or take up new roles in 2025.
We are thrilled to have Mrs Heather Cumming, take up the role of Technologies Teacher in our high school three days a week next year. Heather has a Bachelor of Industrial Design and previously taught Math and Visual Arts at Mamre Christian College. She is currently studying for a Master in Teaching. We are very excited to have her step up to this new role. Heather will also continue to support our Diversability team two days a week as a Teacher’s Aide.
We are also excited to have Mr Matthew McCaull step into a Secondary teaching position in 2025. Many of you will know Matt as a past Kuyper student who started working part-time as our lab assistant while completing his Bachelor of Science (Chemistry and Mathematics) at Macquarie University. Matt will now bring his journey full circle, as he commences teaching Mathematics three days a week in the high school alongside Mr Rob Coleman.
In addition, we are pleased to welcome Mr Charles Tan into a Secondary teaching position in 2025. Charles has also been working with our Diversability Team as a Teacher’s Aide this year while studying. He will join us three days a week next year, teaching English alongside Mrs Sandra Daly.
We are looking forward to having these two wonderful young men join our Secondary teaching team in the new year.
We warmly welcome Mrs Katherine (Kat) Klaack, who will join our Diversability team as a Teacher’s Aide (TA) in 2025. Kat has a Certificate III in Education Support and has been doing some casual TA work for us this term. Staff are already valuing her contributions in the classroom. We are very pleased to welcome her to the team in a more permanent capacity next year.
Lastly, we officially welcome Matt Hutchins to our Maintenance team. Matt joined us in a part-time capacity earlier this term and will move into a full-time role in 2025. Matt is a qualified landscaper and also a trained counsellor. We have already appreciated Matt’s gentle and diligent contribution to the team and look forward to having him on staff full-time next year.