Mallory Flavell - Oatley Senior Campus
Mallory Flavell is a very impressive young woman.
She is a highly valued teacher at Oatley Senior Campus of GRC where she completed years 11 and 12 in 2007. She was thrilled at the opportunity to return to her school as a teacher and teach alongside some of the same teachers who inspired her to choose teaching as her career.
Karen Vitali who taught Mallory Ancient History for the HSC is now a close colleague. Mallory referred to both Karen Vitali and Bruce Andrews who taught her Extension History for the HSC as two of the teachers who encouraged her to extend her learning and excel in the study of English and History. At the time Bruce Andrews was Head Teacher English at Penshurst Girls where Mallory had completed years 8-10. He travelled to the Senior Campus each week to teach Extension History.
Nerida Brodie, who taught Mallory for years 8, 9 and 10 in English at Penshurst Campus, inspired Mallory’s love of English. Mallory arrived in Australia as a non-English speaker. She spoke only Maori in New Zealand and attended a very small Maori school where she was fully immersed in the Maori language, culture and traditions. When she started at Penshurst in year 8 it was her lessons with Nerida Brodie which accelerated her language development in English and now, not so many years later, Mallory is teaching English to years 11 and 12 for the HSC, inspiring her own students at GRC to believe in themselves and to make progress in their learning.
Moving from a very small Maori school in New Zealand, where students were in composite small classes with a single core teacher for most subjects to Penshurst in year 8, certainly was a culture shock. Adjusting to ten different subject based teachers and 150 students in each year at the school offered many challenges for a young, shy ESL student. She developed strong resilience skills which she uses daily in her teaching career. She is able to offer her own students her best advice about coping with significant school pressures. Her own significant achievements in a new culture in a new country when only 13 years of age have enriched her understanding of school life and all its pressures.
For her research project for HSC Extension History, Mallory investigated how films have influenced our interpretations of History. Her investigation focused on the film 300 about the Greek and Persian Wars in the fifth century B.C., very much in keeping with her love of Ancient History, inspired by Karen Vitali. Mallory knows first hand the pressures on senior students facing competing major works in their HSC year. She also completed major works for Visual Arts and Society and Culture at the same time as her Extension History project. Her PIP (Personal Interest Project) for Society and Culture investigated the role of the “housewife” over decades. Mallory credits Society and Culture as an excellent preparation for her university studies in Arts because of its emphasis on evidence-based enquiry. Mallory regularly invites students to extend themselves and take a risk so as to make progress in their learning, just as she did at GRC.
During her time as a student at GRC, Mallory was impressed by the strong women she encountered in leadership roles. Her Senior Campus Principal Terry O’Brien and Deputy Principal Jane Rouvray made a strong impression on her. Jacqueline Lyons, the Principal of Penshurst, often spoke of empowering women to do their best. Her metaphor describing women wearing different shoes for the many different roles they will encounter made a lasting impression on the young Mallory throughout years 8, 9 and 10. She also mentioned the current strong leadership of Anna Girginis, Senior Campus Principal and Leanne Larcombe as College Principal and really appreciated all the encouragement she has experienced through her years as a teacher at GRC. She particularly values the professional learning opportunities which are a feature of her time as a teacher at the College.
GRC has entrusted Mallory with the responsibility of being a Teacher Mentor to a small group of senior students each week. She is also one of the Year Advisers for year 11 in the Student Wellbeing Team. She recently participated in the Anzac Day commemorations at the College and spoke Maori for the solemn occasion, acknowledging the joint participation of Australia and New Zealand in World Wars 1 and 11. As 2021 Debating Coordinator she is responsible for coaching and organizing the participation of GRC in the NSW Debating competitions. Mallory is creating the same opportunities for her students which she said had been provided for her throughout years 8-12 at GRC.
Story by Judy King