School Board

Board Members

Mari Dart  – Principal

Mari joined City Beach Primary School as the newly appointed principal at the beginning of Term 4, 2018. She is an energetic, vibrant and highly motivated educator and leader, with a Diploma of Teaching, Bachelor of Education, and over 30 years of experience. Prior to her appointment, Mari contributed to and influenced 10 diverse school communities, working as: a classroom teacher; literacy specialist teacher; cluster leader; deputy principal; associate principal; and principal.

Mari also spent three years working with school leadership teams as a Principal Consultant in the area of numeracy with the Improving Literacy and Numeracy Project (ILNP). This involved working with 140 schools across the State to support the implementation of positive curriculum reform with a school improvement focus.

Mari is genuinely loves leading a dynamic and involved school community, and is driven by her strong belief that relationships and connections are critical to school success. With two grown sons, she values the importance of knowing each child, how they learn and play. Mari believes that a balance between academic and social-emotional learning is the key to supporting each child, and member of our school community, to achieve their best.

Sam Berridge – Parent Representative

Sam has two children attending City Beach Primary School, and will be a part of the school community for the next five years. Sam has degrees in chemistry, finance and has worked as a fund manager for the last 10 years. Current investments span a broad range of West Australian industries, including, retail, IT, engineering, resources and energy

As a board member, Sam will endeavour to contribute insights on best practice from a range of industries as applicable to the spectrum of primary school education. In doing so Sam hopes to contribute to a productive, healthy and functional school and school community.

Rachael Davern – Parent Representative and Chairperson

Rachael is a mum of two boys at CBPS and recently joined the CBPS community after relocating from Sydney to Perth in June 2021. Rachael has extensive risk management, strategy, finance, operations and corporate governance experience across the banking and not-for-profit industries, with 15 years at global investment bank Macquarie Group Limited followed by 3.5 years as a Director at Raise Foundation, a not-for-profit provider of youth mentoring programs in Australian public high schools. She was previously a Director of a Sydney children’s play centre and is a Graduate of the Institute of Company Directors.

Rachael joined the Board in February 2022 and is looking forward to supporting Mari and the staff at CBPS to achieve their strategic goals and to continue to improve educational and broader outcomes. 

Sky Walker – Parent Representative

Sky has two daughters that will attend the school and expects to be a member of the school community to the end of 2033. Sky joined the school board in Term 3 2023 and looks forward to making a small contribution to the life of the school and its strategic direction. Sky has been impressed by the positive community spirit within the school, and as a nearby resident with the school grounds representing a hub for the broader central City Beach community.

Sky is the Chief Investment Officer at one of Perth’s leading wealth management firms and a member of its Investment Committee, He has nearly 20 years experience in equities, financial market and macro economic analysis.

Dr Sue Girak – Staff Representative

Sue was appointed Visual Arts specialist in 2016 and feels honoured to be part of the City Beach Primary community. She is a dedicated Visual Arts educator who is a lifelong learner. In addition to her BEd, Sue has continued to hone her craft with a BA in Visual Arts, an MA and PhD in Visual Arts education. She divides her time, teaching at the school and the university sector teaching Visual Arts education.

Sue works tirelessly to raise the profile of City Beach’s Visual Arts program locally and internationally. On the local front, the school has nurtured a special relationship with Sculpture by the Sea, where our students work with practising artists and are often invited to present the Kids’ Choice awards. In return, we are privileged to have exhibiting artists judge at our Sculptures @ City Beach exhibition. Other collaborations are with Rotary, the Art Gallery of WA, artist-in-residence programs and cultural exchange with students from Hiroshima, Japan. The outcomes of these collaborations and other projects have been showcased in the local media, international publications and conferences.

Sue joined the board in September 2023 and is committed to working with fellow board members to support school initiatives.

Beth Robinson – Parent Representative

Beth has one child at City Beach Primary School and volunteered for the Board in September 2023 to play an active part in the school community and to support the school leadership in achieving its strategic aims and continuing to build on the culture and values that make CBPS a positive and welcoming environment for students and their families.

Beth is a partner at a specialist, national employment law firm and has over 15 years experience as a legal professional advising on governance, strategy, dispute resolution and risk management across a range of industries and employers.

Roma Wood – Parent Representative

Moving back to City Beach feels like coming home, as migrants from the UK in 1994 City Beach is where my family settled and although my older sister and I went straight into high school at MLC my younger brother attended CBPS, so being part of the school board is my way of showing my appreciation and continuing to foster the nurturing community spirit forged into our school ethos.

As a full time working mum to an ever growing tribe of developing minds I am reminded daily how important it is to feel connected to our school community, it’s the connections and friendships built now that carry us through the tougher times that come not just as students but parents also.

Education has always been important to my family but as a young adult, I was very uncertain of what career path to follow and returned to the UK where I completed 2 degrees simultaneously, graduating with Honours from Liverpool University with a Bachelor of Arts in English, Drama & Psychology and secondly from the City & Guilds Institute in London where I was conferred Licentiateship in Business, Leadership & Management. This has enabled me the opportunity to track a varied and fulfilling career path starting as an Officer in His Majesties Armed Forces and later transitioning into the civilian workforce to where I am today, working in the finance sector managing risk, projects and lending opportunities.

We’re an active family, passionate about travel and adventure so when we’re not working or ferrying our children to various sporting activities and events you’ll find us on the road, somewhere off the beaten track forging our own path and making new memories.

Lee Fogarty – Parent Representative

Lee and his three daughters joined the CBPS community in 2021 and he took the opportunity to support the school leadership team as a board member in September 2023.

Lee is an Architect, Commercial Director and business owner with over 25 years’ experience in the construction and property industry, both locally and abroad. Having relocated back to Perth with a family new to WA and impressed by the warm school welcome, Lee is keen to build on the strong cultural foundation evident at CBPS.  Positive participation offers a greater understanding of the immediate and longer-term considerations and the potential to contribute to help resolve challenges and realise the strategic objectives. As they say, ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ and the school community is the village that nurtures our children with education at its core.

 

Alison Jenkins – Staff Representative

Alison was appointed Deputy Principal at City Beach Primary School in 2017.  In her 7 years at City Beach Primary School Alison has undertaken many diverse roles in the school. Alison works as a part of the leadership team to support teachers in curriculum implementation and delivery. As a part of her role in leading the Learning Support Team Alison works closely with teachers, the school psychologist, outside agencies and parents to support Students at Educational Risk.  

Previously Alison has worked at Woodlands Primary, South Ballajura Primary, Lockridge Junior Primary and Paraburdoo District High Schools. Alison has a Diploma of Education in Early Childhood Education from The Western Australian Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Education for Western Australian College of Advanced Education. She is passionate about “learning for life” and enjoys creating her own books and stories that she has shared and made with many classes over her years of teaching.  Alison loves to be behind the camera and is always taking photos for school events which are included in newsletter and the yearbook. 

Role of the Board

The role of the School Board is outlined in the School Education Act 1999. In essence, the role of the School Board is one of setting the long term future goals for the school and maintaining oversight (not management) of the school’s operation. It is not about running the school – that is the job of the principal. It is about providing additional expertise to help the school achieve the best outcomes for the students.

The responsibilities of an Independent Public School Board is to:

  • work within the Department of Education’s relevant legislation and regulations;
  • contribute to the School Delivery and Performance Agreement and the Business Plan. (These documents summarise what the school wants to achieve in the future and how it plans to get there);
  • endorse and review the annual budget (the budget summarises the income received annually from the Department of Education and other sources; It also lists planned expenditure, including salaries);
  • assist with the formulation of codes of conduct (guiding principles designed to influence decisions and actions that the school takes);
  • review the performance of the school;
  • create interest in the school within and across the community;
  • assist with principal selection when a vacancy arises (the chair of the School Board will be a member of the selection panel);
  • approve fees, charges, contributions and items of personal use (booklists);
  • approve extra cost optional components of programs;
  • approve arrangements for sponsorship and advertising;
  • liaise with other committees within the school eg. the P&C;
  • hold one open meeting each year to report to the school community; and
  • provide advice to the Principal on religious education and related activities.

The School Board does not:

  • manage the day to day running of the school (eg. it does not employ staff, decide which classes students will be assigned to, or resolve issues relating to individual teachers and students and/or parents)
  • discuss individual issues relating to teachers, staff or parents – these are very clearly management roles and therefore the responsibility of the Principal;
  • represent specific interest groups, or permit special interests to dominate the agenda of the Board;
  • intervene in the educational instruction of students;
  • purchase land, buildings or motor cars, nor enter into hire purchase agreements or obtain credit or loans, unless permission is given by the Minister; and
  • performance manage the Principal or any other staff member.

Role of School Board Members:

  • Parent members of the School Board bring their experience as parents of the school, and the views and context of the wider school community to School Board meetings.
  • Community members bring a particular skill to the School Board. This may include business, accounting or building skills, or some other skill that the school is looking for at that time.
  • Department of Education employees bring their educational expertise to School Board meetings.

Configuration of the School Board:

  • School Principal – Mari Dart
  • Two school staff – Susan Girak and Alison Jenkins
  • Six parents – Rachael Davern, Sam Berridge, Sky Walker, Lee Fogarty, Beth Robinson and Roma Wood
  • One co-opted school community member – Jade Pervan
  • One co-opted staff member as secretary – Brunhild Lowry

View and download the Board Code of Conduct