Sara Trethewey

Qualifications

B. Ed (Honours in Applied Education), Charlotte Mason College, Lancaster University, UK

Teaching areas

• Maths (prep - Year 10)

• English (prep - Year 10)

• Organisation and time management (all ages)

Background

Sara leads the team here at Sum of Us. For over 30 years, she has been teaching and inspiring students to achieve their full potential. Her unique experiences as an educator have led her to believe that students learn best when teachers approach their learning with compassion and understand their individual needs.

During her time in the UK, Sara worked in a number of teaching and leadership positions. As a teacher and Assistant Principal of Clarendon Road Primary School, she was responsible for ensuring that all children received high quality education in a supportive environment. Coupled with her experience as a Special Needs Coordinator, she has a deep understanding of the diverse learning requirements of every child.

For her work Sara was identified as an outstanding teacher by Her Majesty Inspectorate, the department responsible for inspecting and reporting upon the quality of education within UK schools. As a result of this recognition, she was asked to develop model lessons for practicing teachers, act as an in-school mentor to help further develop their skills as educators, and investigate effective teaching practices. Sara has also been invited to speak to aspiring teachers at universities and spent time teaching overseas in Pakistan.

Upon arriving in Melbourne 20 years ago, Sara spent five years teaching in the public school system and became familiar with the requirements of the Victorian curriculum. In 2004 she decided to leverage her years of experience and passion and open Sum of Us. Over this time she has built a dedicated team of teachers who work in a supportive and caring environment.

Paula O’Connor

Qualifications

B. Ed (Biology, Geography and Math), Victoria College Rusden, Melbourne

Teaching areas

• Maths (7-10)

• Science (7-10)

• All Subjects (Primary/Middle)

Background

Paula loves to work with students in the middle years 7-10 but also likes to encourage and motivate the younger students.  Her passion for teaching centres around the desire to support and develop the student’s emotional health and wellbeing.  Paula’s ability to forge strong, caring working relationships is a huge contributing factor to her student’s success.

Paula has taught in schools and industry for 30 years, she brings to her tutoring role,  the skills of effective communication, organisation, and confidence building. Paula harnesses and demonstrates a positive belief which she models and shares with her students. 

Being a mother of teenagers, “nothing can shock her”, she understands both student and parent perspectives and happily works with both to ensure maximum progress.

Graeme Trethewey

Qualifications

MBA, Monash University

BEng(Chem), Monash University

BSc in Chemistry and Mathematics, Monash University

Teaching Areas

• Chemistry

• VCE Maths (Maths Methods and General/Further}

Background

Graeme is a valuable member of the Sum of Us teaching team. He brings a wealth of experience in both education and industry. His VCE students regularly score in the mid 40’s in Chemistry and Maths.

Graeme has worked with Sara at Sum of Us since 2004. He enjoys teaching and sharing his passion for Mathematics and Chemistry with highly motivated students. He has a real flair and ability for problem solving. and is especially able to challenge VCE students to achieve a higher ATAR score.

Working with some wonderful teachers and students over the years at Sum of Us, Graeme now has many years of experience teaching students from Y9 though to VCE.

His experience in industry has proven to be a valuable asset, helpful to students in exam preparation and when making their career choices and university selections.

Bibiana Nievas

Qualifications

B ED Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia

Advanced Skilled Teacher, UK

Certificate of MFL Spanish (masters accreditation)

Background

Bibi has 30 years experience as a teacher and in leadership. She has led and implemented curriculum in emotional wellbeing in the classroom to support learning and development so all students can access learning. Her belief is that learning should be a positive experience where the students not only build on their learning and knowledge but also on their confidence. While working in partnerships with parents, she is passionate about delivering lessons that engage students and build their self-esteem so they can achieve results and maximises full potential for all my students.

• English (All Years)

• All Subjects (Primary)

• Test Preparation