Meet our board

As a child, I can’t remember ever wanting to be anything else other than a teacher and here I am many years later, living my childhood dream on a much larger scale than I ever would have believed possible. It is such an honour for me to win the position of Foundation Principal, Harrisdale Primary School and I look forward to leading this school to become a highly successful and high care school.

Graduating from the West Australian College of Advanced Education- Churchlands campus in 1981, I began teaching in 1982 and have worked in a variety of educational settings over my thirty six year career. I have taught in rural schools in the Pilbara and the Wheatbelt, and in metropolitan schools. I have taught a range of year levels from Kindergarten to Year 7.
Over the years, I have also worked in Central Office, Regional/District Office and WestOne K-12 Curriculum Services in the area of curriculum leadership.

I began working in an administrative capacity as a deputy principal initially in 2000, and won my first principal position in 2010 as principal of Medina Primary School. I have held principal positions at Medina, Koorana, Ardross and Harrisdale Primary Schools.

I have been very humbled in my tenures as principal to be :

• State Finalist in the WA Education Awards Primary Principal of the Year, 2013,
• Awarded a Certificate of Excellence by the Australian Council for Educational Leaders in 2014,
• Nominated for Outstanding Leader in Aboriginal Education (WA) in 2103,
• Winner of a WA Primary Principals’ Association ‘Leading from the Front’ Award in 2016 (with $10 000 grant for leadership development), and
• Nominated for inclusion (and participated ) in the Experienced Principals’ Program in 2017, a joint venture between WA Catholic Education and Department of Education.

My leadership of Harrisdale Primary, is a great honour. We have a highly supportive community and one that greatly values education. Whilst we hold the title of currently being the most rapidly growing primary school in WA, we can more importantly, hold our head up high and proudly announce, that we are a school that puts students and learning at the centre of all that we do and that we continually strive to develop the unique potential in each and every child.
My leadership has focussed on three pillars of:

• Student Success
• Excellence, and
• Innovation.

Respectful relationships, care and compassion are at the core of my leadership style. If you see me out and about, be sure to say hello.

My goal is for Harrisdale Primary School to be recognised as an excellent school, characterised by high student performance and high care.

I look forward to continuing to work with our school community to achieve this goal.

Karen Duncan
Foundation Principal, Harrisdale Primary

I want to be on the School Board because I want to help ensure our school is the best possible place for our children. My son graduated year 6 in 2020 and I have a daughter in year 6 and a daughter in year 2. I have a lot of Board experience and I have been on our Harrisdale Primary School Board for 5 years. I have a Bachelors Degree in Business Management and an MBA as well as a lot of experience managing large projects. I am the President of another Non-profit and I have a good working knowledge of Board governance and financial management. I want to help our great school continue to thrive.

I begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of this land and pay respects to their elders past and present.

My name is Suma Kaja, I live with my husband Suresh Kaja and our 2 children in our neighborhood Harrisdale. Our children attend Harrisdale Primary.

I hold bachelor’s degree in Engineering. I am a certified management professional, working for Rio Tinto as a Project Manager. I’ve held several other positions prior and accomplished significant milestones. I specialize in management, have worked in various sectors such as mining, utilities, banking etc., and have a passion towards technologies.

Proficient in Providing Strategies, Plans, Budget management and Cost Controlling methods, defining, and redesigning processes and policies, defining vision and planning road maps to achieve the same. Have identified areas of improvement and implemented changes seamlessly to keep up with the current world.

In business or for community, I believe in innovation, at times I also go back to traditional methods depending on the scenario. I have had an opportunity to work with leaders from diverse backgrounds such as police, community services, and educationalists fora Non-Profit Organization’s project via Leadership WA to help them with Marketing Strategy.

Being a board member, I would like to extend my services to the school in every possible way I can which includes but not limited to reviewing objectives from time to time, help in financial planning, track performance, consult students and parents as per the need, set up of educational programs, general policies, advising, sponsorships, fund raising etc.

I am confident that my skills, professional and personal experiences are strengths to hold board member position. Looking forward to closely working with the principal, other board members, the students, and the families.

My name is Rachel Batten and I joined the Harrisdale teaching staff this year 2024, and am currently teaching Pre-Primary. I have been teaching for 6 years, with the last 5 years being down south in the Wheatbelt. An integral part of my teaching philosophy is to nurture and grow the individual child so to guide them to their best self. I believe Harrisdale reiterates this by providing children with the best learning environment as we focus on forming personal relationships, having high expectations for success and continually learning as professionals to deliver the best teaching practice. I am happy to be a part of the journey that is Harrisdale Primary School.

My name is Cleo Jenkins, and it is a privilege to be a Deputy Principal at HPS. I have worked as a Deputy Principal for the last 10 years, across a range of schools in the South Metropolitan region, and more recently in Acting Principal positions.  I thrive on the vision #everystudentsuccessful by providing endless opportunities, ensuring students and learning are at the centre of all that we do and I firmly believe that a learning environment where students feel known, valued, and cared for, allows them to achieve their utmost potential. I prioritise our people, their perspectives, respectful relationships, care and focus on student success, innovation, learning and excellence. I strive to create an atmosphere where students and staff feel inspired to come to school each day and seek to cultivate collaboration, partnership, and unity with our families and wider community. I collaborate with educational leaders on the Western Australian Institute for Educational Research ‘s committee and I’m currently studying my Doctor of Education part-time through Curtin University, with the thesis title ‘Supporting the wellbeing of school leaders in primary schools’ with the hope to support school leaders to ensure our school communities continue to flourish. I am thrilled to be an active member of the School Board this year to celebrate and foster the school’s success since foundation, learn from the voices of our incredible community and contribute to the future direction of Harrisdale Primary School.