Meet our new Head of Primary, Mrs Joanne Paini.
Jo comes to our community from St Mary's Catholic Primary School in Bunbury, where she was Assistant Principal for two and a half years after working as a local School Support Consultant for the CEO. She has lived in Dalyellup for seven years, regularly spending time on their Kojonup farm with her husband Tony. They have two children, Dominic 23 and Nicholas 21, as well as working dogs and a pet Groodle called Zeb “who is the size of a small horse.”
Born in Perth, Jo moved to Kojonup in 1987 as a graduate teacher. It was there that she met her husband, a wool farmer, and they married two years later. “As a farmer’s wife I am also qualified to drive tractors and do all aspects of animal husbandry.”
Her passion in education is working with students for whom school is not their most favourite place, and being able to connect to students who experience some form of challenge at school. “What I like best about teaching is watching a child improve in their learning. I like to see just how far we can move a child forward.”
Jo says she is looking forward to her own challenge of getting to know such a large parent and student community at St Mary MacKillop College, as well as experiencing the collegiality of working with a large staff. “They are all very welcoming and friendly, and I look forward to the opportunity to further develop the wonderful work our teachers are doing with students.”
When not at school or the farm, Jo enjoys playing tennis in the summer and the fine art of pairing wine with food. When asked what would she do other than teaching, she said “I would be working back on the farm and extensively renovating the old farmhouse – or working at a cellar door!”
We would like to warmly welcome Mrs Paini to our College community.