The blessing of education

When Lauren Brooks moved away from her hometown of Adelaide, it was originally the dream of playing water polo that drew her to Sydney. But after graduating from the University of New South Wales with a teaching degree, her focus turned from the pool to the classroom – and some very different challenges.

“I was working in a school within a particular unit with students from very complex backgrounds,” the Principal of St Ignatius’ College tells The CEO Magazine. “It was a pretty tough job for a graduate teacher.”

Despite the difficult beginnings, Brooks benefited greatly from the experience, because it taught her the value of community and the importance of learning.

“I’m enormously grateful for those first months as a very early career teacher. I worked with some incredible people,” she recalls. “I also learned the fundamental lessons about creating learning experiences that motivate students to get out of bed in the morning, whether school is easy or hard for them, whether they’ve got complex and difficult lives outside of school.

“It’s about creating a reason for the kids to want to come to school. I learned about the power of education, creating learning environments where students can actually leave your classroom feeling more empowered than when they walked in.”

To the desert and back again

It was quite the initiation, but Brooks rose to the challenge and developed valuable skills that would serve her well in her next appointment at Alice Springs in Central Australia. Her husband was starting a 12-month contract there and convinced her to come along.

“Moving to the desert was very much out of my comfort zone,” she admits. “But I very quickly realized how special the community was and we embraced every part of it.”

The unique environment and professional opportunities made for a formative experience for Brooks.

“I look back now with so much gratitude from my time there,” she recalls. “It really altered my worldview and shaped so many parts of my leadership characteristics.”

After six years, however, Brooks and her husband both felt the pull of home.

“We ended up having 13 years away from Adelaide and were able to travel the world in that time,” she says. “Coming home felt like a blessing after being able to experience so much, and the different perspectives and educational contexts as well.”

Professionally, the move also afforded Brooks more leadership opportunities.

A blend of old and new

Established in 1951, St Ignatius’ College is a school in the Jesuit tradition, which emphasizes shaping a student’s moral development alongside their academic achievement.

It was this ethos that drew Brooks to the role. “I saw opportunities in how I could continue to bring to life this incredible 500-year Jesuit tradition while pioneering new ways of doing things,” she explains.

“And at the same time, considering how we can bring to life these traditions in a way that is going to continue to meet the needs of our students of tomorrow. It’s such a great privilege to be in a school that has such history, and I take that really seriously,” she adds.

Alongside the privileges come some challenges, and in the case of St Ignatius’ College, the size of its sprawling campus is one of them. Catering for early childhood through to Year 12, the school comprises three campuses on three different sites.

“We are a massive school,” Brooks reveals. “We’ve got 260 staff and about 1,400 students, so it has certainly been a challenge for me to be present at all three places.”

There is, however, a strong ‘Ignatian’ thread connecting all campuses, according to Brooks. “I see it as both a challenge and a responsibility to ensure that thread becomes stronger through my leadership,” she adds.

Maintaining a strong connection between staff and students is one way Brooks demonstrates this leadership, resulting in some truly memorable moments.

“Earlier in the year, myself and our rector, we swapped roles with our school captains for a day, so we became students for a day, and our school captains became principals for a day,” she recalls with a smile. “It was really fun!

“One of the biggest takeaways from the day for me was just how exceptional our people are. I sat in classrooms, in awe of the sheer intelligence and professionalism, seeing how the virtues and vision and motto are actually coming to life in our day-to-day classrooms.”

Undertaking such an exercise is important for Brooks, who worried that stepping into a principal role would take her away from the reason she became a teacher in the first place: the students. But her efforts to remain connected have paid off.

“Every day that I’m here, I am out with students, whether that’s at lunchtime or at recess time or popping by classrooms to say hello and have a chat,” she says.

“I’ve been able to make connections and build relationships and their ideas have become inspiration for my ideas.”

‘Inspiring minds, igniting hearts’

The connection to the individual is one of the values at the center of the school’s most recent strategic plan.

“It was a really genuinely collaborative and forward-thinking process that involved all stakeholders in the community,” Brooks explains.

“The plan is called, ‘Inspiring Minds, Igniting Hearts’, and I think that really frames and captures what we’re all about, giving young people the skills and the knowledge and the competence to be able to go out and make the world a better place.”

Brooks takes pride in living these values herself, modeling the school’s values to both her students and her own children.

“I’m also proud to be able to demonstrate that you can be a driven, brave, committed leader while also being a nurturing and present mother,” she concludes. “I hope to be able to be a role model to others in that way.”