Congratulations to our Deputy Principal and Head of Senior School, Ms Tracy Healy on her selection for The Educator Hot List Australia, 2019! Tracy has been recognised as an industry leader in education for her expertise in adolescent health and student wellbeing; tirelessly developing and refining programs that nurture self-confidence, self-esteem and resiliency in young adults. Her knowledge and experience is enhanced by research obtained through her Graduate Diploma of Adolescent Health and Welfare, Diploma in Mental Health, study through Harvard University, as well as presentations on student wellbeing to industry experts at a recent Global Girls’ Education Conference in Washington DC. 

Under Tracy's leadership, every year level from 7 to 12 at Lowther Hall boasts its own tailored, formally timetabled wellbeing program, led in collaboration with Year Level Pastoral Care Coordinators. These programs assist girls to establish positive relationships and a sense of belonging, through regular classroom lessons with specialised pastoral care staff, visits from inspirational speakers, as well as adventure camps and excursions. Tracy personally leads year level wellbeing lessons four days a week for Year 7 students, assisting them with transition and determining their Year Level culture, and also runs the Years 10 to 12 Guest Speaker and Pathways Panel Series; programs that help girls in understanding the transition to life after school.

Tracy’s vision for developing qualities of altruism and a sense of responsibility in young adults has led to the launch of a comprehensive cross-age program at Lowther Hall that connects almost every girl in Senior School with one who is younger than she, across the school campus. This includes a Year 8 mentor program that has the cohort acting as 'gate greeters', 'reading buddies', 'classroom mentors' or 'playground friends' to students in Years K-6.

To further empower girls to strengthen their confidence and autonomy, Tracy has initiated and established over 100 new student positions and opportunities for leadership or leadership development at Lowther Hall. Through her ‘Preparation for Leadership Program’ initiative, Tracy runs after-school leadership development courses for Year 11 girls, after which they put into practice the skills learned by attending and leading all girls on Year 10 camp. Tracy has also expanded the House Leadership Program by allocating Year 11 students as pastoral care leaders of students in Years 7 to 9.

We can no doubt credit much of Lowther Hall’s excellent student wellbeing data to Tracy’s leadership. Not one student left Senior School at Lowther Hall last year, meaning we celebrated a 100% retention rate at the end of 2018. The ACER Social-Emotional Wellbeing Survey Report data has also revealed that there has been an increase in student happiness to 92.2% overall in Senior School; 6 percentage points higher than the ‘all schools’ average, and an increase in 2 percentage points from our results from 2017. 

Tracy’s passion for student wellbeing is fundamental to our shared vision at Lowther Hall to have each girl equipped with the personal qualities and skills needed to make a positive and rewarding contribution to the world beyond school. 

https://www.theeducatoronline.com/k12/rankings/hot-list-2019/265300