Leadership & Governance
School Executive Team
The School Executive Team is responsible for managing the School’s regular business and operations.
Susan Just, Principal
Susan Just, Principal
Nat Fanariotis
Nat Fanariotis, Deputy Principal - Wellbeing
Chris Toms
Chris Toms, Vice Principal & Head of Junior School
David Joyce
David Joyce, Vice Principal - Head of Campus
Lindy Grahn
Lindy Grahn, Assistant Principal - Learning and Innovation
Kate Hehir
Kate Hehir, Assistant Principal - Junior School (Curriculum and Learning)
Vanessa McDonnell
Vanessa McDonnell, Head of Senior School
Nick Thornton
Nick Thornton, Director of the Lauriston Institute
Catherine Tan
Catherine Tan, Business Manager
Andrew Smith
Andrew Smith, Executive Director, Marketing, Admissions and Communications
Susan Just
Principal
Susan Just has been working as an educator for over 20 years. Beginning her teaching career in government schools in Queensland, Susan went on to gain extensive teaching and leadership experience in the independent school sector in Australia; she has been the Principal of three independent girls’ schools in Queensland and Canberra.
Degrees Susan holds include a BA (UQ), Dip ED (UQ), M.Ed Admin (UNE) and Advanced Management Course (Harvard).
Susan’s areas of interest in curriculum and teacher development have led to her participation in a number of peak educational bodies, committees and task forces. She is currently a representative for Asia-Pacific on the IB Heads Council and was awarded a Fellowship with Australian Council for Educational Leaders (VIC) in 2021.
Susan is a member of the Australian Heads of Independent Schools Association and is on the Board of Trustees for the Invergowrie Foundation. Her interest in STEM education for girls has seen the establishment of the School’s digital fabrication lab at Lauriston and the implementation of STEM-based activities from the early primary years, which are designed to positively influence students in developing confidence and skills.
Susan is a passionate supporter of resilience and wellbeing programs for girls and, to complement her own reading, she has completed training courses in Positive Education with Professor Martin Seligman and Dr Karen Reivich from Penn University and Associate Professor Lea Waters from the University of Melbourne, as well as Mindfulness training with Dr Craig Hassed from the University of Melbourne.
In her spare time, Susan enjoys walking and cycling. She also thoroughly enjoys reading; currently, she is hooked on the Donna Leon detective novels involving Commissioner of the Venetian Police, Guido Brunetti, as the main character.
Nat Fanariotis
Deputy Principal - Wellbeing
Nat joined Lauriston at the beginning of 2024. As a passionate, dynamic, and values-driven professional, she specialises in educational leadership and the effective implementation of evidence-informed approaches to enhance schoolwide wellbeing.
Nat holds a Bachelor of Teaching (Secondary)/ Bachelor of Health Sciences (Deakin University).
With 15 years of experience in education, Nat has dedicated her career and further study to the wellbeing field. She has held various senior leadership positions in government and independent schools, including her most recent role as Head of Wellbeing at Caulfield Grammar School. Prior to her time at Caulfield, Nat held the position of Implementation Lead at Beyond Blue, contributing to the success of the national mental health in education initiative, Be You.
Nat is committed to establishing systems, practices, and capabilities in school communities to protect, promote, and respond to student wellbeing. In her role as Deputy Principal – Wellbeing, she will undertake strategic and operational responsibilities, focusing on building wellbeing literacy among students, staff, and families; enabling high-quality proactive and responsive pastoral care for all students; strengthening partnerships between home, school, and the community; and integrating wellbeing into the learning experience and environment.
Passionate about equipping every student with the tools needed to feel good, function well, engage optimistically in learning, build meaningful relationships, and navigate life’s inevitable challenges, Nat is dedicated to creating a positive impact on the Lauriston community.
Chris Toms
Vice Principal, Head of Junior School
Chris Toms is an experienced educator and has taught at Lauriston for over ten years; in that time he has held the positions of Year 4-6 Classroom Teacher, Director of Learning and now Head of Junior School. Chris has played a crucial role in leading and managing the Junior School teachers in the development of curriculum, assessment practices and reporting from Kindergarten to Year 6. He has developed initiatives aligned with current educational research and practice and collaborated with the School’s Executive on the implementation and evaluation of the Strategic Plan.
Prior to Lauriston, Chris worked for Kilvington Grammar School and held positions including Team Leader for Years 3-6. He holds a Master of Education from Monash University, where he focused on Leadership, Management and Information Technology. He also holds a Bachelor of Education from Deakin University and a Bachelor of Commerce from The University of Melbourne.
Chris is a parent to two young children and also enjoys playing tennis and golf in his spare time.
David Joyce
Vice Principal - Head of Campus
Howqua welcomed David as Vice Principal & Head of the Campus in mid 2024. David fuses his passion for teaching with a love of natural environments and sees Outdoor and Environmental Education as a powerful teaching tool that develops the whole person and human/nature relationships.
David has a Bachelor of Arts specialising in Outdoor Education from La Trobe University and a Graduate Diploma in Education from Monash University.
Following years working in a range of Outdoor fields including commercial Adventure Tourism, School Programs and Tertiary Training, he worked for over 20 years at St Mary’s College /CBC St Kilda in a range of roles. With a passion for diverse work and community relationships his work expanded from Outdoor Education Teaching to also include leading International Immersions and managing community partnerships with NGOs in India, Alumni relations, Family Camps and voluntary school staff consultation and OH&S support.
David’s role is to lead the Howqua management team in decision making and operational matters for the campus. He is also responsible for collaboratively developing the curriculum, for leading, engaging, inspiring and supporting all Howqua staff, and working closely with the entire Howqua community.
Lindy Grahn
Assistant Principal
Learning and Innovation
Lindy Grahn has extensive experience in education and has held positions of leadership in both independent and international schools. Over the course of her career, she has held curriculum and pastoral leadership roles, including VCE Coordinator at Fintona Girls’ School, Senior School Mathematics Coordinator at MLC and Head of Year at the Australian International School in Singapore. Most recently, Lindy was appointed Coordinator of Curriculum and Teaching at our Howqua campus before taking on the role of Assistant Principal – Learning and Innovation at the Armadale campus.
Lindy has extensive expertise in curriculum development – she has been involved in writing VCE and IB Mathematics courses and is currently an examiner for IB Mathematics. Lindy has also been a teacher of IB and VCE Mathematics courses for many years. As a leader in pedagogy, Lindy has always endeavoured to encourage young women to pursue careers in STEM-related fields. She has been successful in managing change and leading her teams to the best educational outcomes. Lindy considers it a privilege to lead and teach at Lauriston and to be involved in helping each student achieve her potential. She is inspired by the Lauriston Mission and believes that our young women are given the skills and confidence to go out and shape their world.
Lindy holds a Bachelor of Science (Mathematics and Psychology), a Bachelor of Arts (English and Swedish) and a Diploma in Education from The University of Melbourne. She has also completed a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration from Monash University.
Kate Hehir
Assistant Principal – Junior School (Curriculum and Learning)
Kate Hehir is a passionate Junior School educator with over 25 years’ experience in teaching, both in Australia and in the United Kingdom. She has taught at Lauriston for over 10 years and has held the positions of Year 3, 4 and 6 Classroom Teacher, Reporting Coordinator, Director of Curriculum and, most recently, Assistant Principal – Junior School (Curriculum and Learning). Kate has a Bachelor of Arts in Education, a Bachelor of Education (Deakin University) and a Masters in School Leadership (Monash University).
Kate is passionate about working with other educators to enhance and embed innovative curriculum, assessment and reporting practices aligned with current best practice. She is excited by the opportunities the Lauriston Fabrication Lab allows for technology to be integrated authentically into the curriculum and is dedicated to designing learning experiences that encourage girls to be courageous, creative, imaginative, curious and resilient. Kate has been a leader of Lauriston’s Cultures of Thinking group, improving teaching and learning using instructional rounds and employing visible thinking routines across the School. She was awarded Lauriston’s Sun Bursary to participate in the Project Zero Classroom Summer Institute 2017 at the Harvard Graduate School of Education to further her studies on Cultures of Thinking. A member of the School’s Executive, Kate is dedicated to the successful implementation of the Strategic Plan.
Catherine Tan
Business Manager
Cathy is a Chartered Accountant with a background in business services and tax. She initially worked in small and second-tier accounting firms before moving away from the accounting field to become Group Financial Controller of a leading patent and trademark attorney firm. Prior to her commencement at Lauriston, Cathy completed her Master of Business Administration.
Nick Thornton
Director of the Lauriston Institute
Nick Thornton has a wealth of experience working in the education and leadership sectors; before he started with Lauriston, Nick had worked as the CEO of a leadership training organisation, a Regional Director and Principal in the government education service and General Manager of disability services for SCOPE. Nick is also an experienced teacher, beginning his teaching career in Portland, and has taught Accounting, Legal Studies and Economics in several secondary schools as well as lecturing in Accounting at Deakin University.
The Lauriston Institute is responsible for the ongoing professional learning of teaching staff and teacher assistants. Working from the ethos that the quality of teaching has a direct effect on educational outcomes for students, Nick works to ensure that the ongoing professional learning of staff at Lauriston is of the highest level.
School Council
Lauriston Girls’ School is administered by a Council, comprised mostly of parents, former School parents, or Old Lauristonians. The role of the School Council is to oversee and maintain the long-term viability of the School as a provider of primary and secondary education of the very highest standard.
Learn more about the results of the School and the work of the Council in the Annual Report and Strategic Plan.
Claudette Leeming
Chair - OL (1991)
Elise Gillespie
Chair, The Lauriston Foundation Inc. - OL (1996)
Melissa Dixon
OL (1985)
Jane Hider
Kathy Ge
OL (2005)
Rachel Irons
OL (1989)
Louise Kanis
Victoria Moffat
OL (2002)
Stewart McCallum
Gavin Wilson
Robert O’Brien
Mark Schubert
Susan Just
Principal
