Our Principal
Terry O'Hanlon-Rose
From day one, Terry O’Hanlon-Rose felt he had a clear direction in life.
“I discovered my passion for teaching and learning right from a young age”
It was a passion which duly translated into high achievements as a student, an athlete and, later, as an educator.
It was during his time as Principal in an established ‘traditional’ school that Terry recognised that schooling could offer more.
“We were just pushing students through a factory production line,” he says. “I realised this wasn’t what education should be about –I really wanted to make a difference to the lives of young people”
That aspiration led Terry to Silkwood School.
It was a post on LinkedIn where he first read about Silkwood. Silkwood was doing everything in education that he had been thinking about. His interest was immediate and, on learning more at his first Information Session, he was fully aligned with Silkwood’s Vision, Mission and Values.
“Later, I met the Leadership Team, led by Valerie Campbell-Hogg, and was inspired by their collective alignment to delivering the Vision of the School.”
Today, Terry presides over the Teaching and Learning of a school that is proud to be uniquely different.
“This is the first place I’ve been where so much attention is given to the student's needs and to teacher development,” he says, in contrast to other schools, our purpose focuses on building life skills rather than just passing tests – it’s a change for the better.
We are driven to get to know each young person, to understand who they want to be and who they can be. We help them explore and participate in real-world learning to build life skills, discover things they are passionate about and achieve their own most meaningful version of success.
Why? Because we want our students to go on to lead meaningful lives. To be resilient and unafraid of risk and to be able to turn ideas and dreams into reality.
"Everyone here feels they can make a big difference to young people – and that can make a difference to the world. I feel at home here."
— Terry O'Hanlon-Rose, Silkwood School Principal