Governance

Carmel Feeney, Deputy Principal – Students

With over 35 years’ experience in education – early intervention, primary, specialist and secondary settings, Carmel is a passionate educator. Working with young people is enlivening and building relationships is the basis of her work. Carmel believes that recognising the dignity, contributions and hopes of individuals and teams leads to a shared wisdom, encourages voice and builds a sense of agency for each person.

With a passion for learning, Carmel has gained Masters of Education degrees in learning diversity, student wellbeing, educational leadership and education and theology. Carmel believes it is important to be an informed and reflective faith leader – reading widely and engaging in parish life. Carmel also enjoys the personal pursuits of time with family and friends; netball, gardening, reading and pets.

Working with Sacred Heart students is enlivening – whether it be in the classroom, with student leaders, developing College community events, working with students who need additional wellbeing support or a friendly “hello” in the corridors. The students are diverse and engaging – they bring enormous energy. In a world of gender inequality, educating and empowering young women remains critical to our students’ lifelong wellbeing and opportunities.

Jodie McLaren, Deputy Principal – Staff

Jodie is a new addition to Sacred Heart Girls College in 2024, and brings a wealth of experience in Catholic Education, having worked in both boys' and girls' education. With a strong background in learning and development along with professional coaching, Jodie has also led various Professional Learning initiatives, as well as facilitated the implementation of various educational programs.

Passionate about girls' education, she is dedicated to actively motivating and empowering staff while advocating for them, so they exert a positive impact on both the learning outcomes and the overall well-being of our students. Having obtained a Master of Education from Deakin University, Jodie is thoroughly enjoying her role at Sacred Heart Girls College. She appreciates the wonderful environment at the College, observing students collaborating and forming strong bonds both inside and outside the classroom. Jodie sees that Sacred Heart has created an environment that fosters inspiration and balances academic achievement with wellbeing.

James Tian, Director of Business Operations

James joined Sacred Heart in April 2020. It was a special time which brought both opportunities and challenges to James’ new role. James’ financial and management skills in banking plus over 15 year’s leadership experience in education sector has been valuable, particularly during the first 6 months of the global pandemic.

James is a CPA with a Master Degree of Accountancy. Despite the challenges, he loves the new role and enjoys the dynamic office and the wonderful administration and support teams at the college. “I cannot help noticing that Sacred Heart has such a great learning environment. Students show something really special in their focus and eagerness to learn. That makes Sacred Heart stand out.”

James is married with two kids. He is passionate about sports. He has been a youth soccer coach for 4 years in the local club. Since immigrating to Australia, he and his family has become big Bulldog supporters.