Rita Daniels, concluding her term as Principal, reflects on her years at Daramalan College, Canberra

The new Principal of Daramalan College from January 2021 will be Mrs Rachel Davies. This provides an opportunity for me to reflect on what has been a long, varied and very rewarding career as a teacher and as a Principal, including the last twelve years as Principal of Daramalan College.

My first experience of Daramalan College was late in 1979 when Fr Jim Littleton msc employed me as a teacher. At that time Daramalan was a boisterous and very male-dominated school which had female students enrolled only in Years 11 and 12.

There was a lot of energy and spirit in the school at that time and it did not take long for me to feel that I was quite at home there.

For the next twenty years I worked at Daramalan in a range of roles within the College which all provided me with great opportunities to learn and grow. Following Fr Jim’s departure, I worked under the leadership of Fr Jock McCowage, Fr Bob Irwin and Fr Denis Uhr and finally Frank Fulton who all brought different gifts to their roles. I saw and experienced many changes within the College itself as well as in education over this time that helped to shape my thinking as an educator.  Perhaps one of the most significant changes for Daramalan during this timewas the decision to close the Junior School and become co-educational in Years 7-10 which occurred in the mid-1990s.  This proved to be an excellent decision for the school in a variety of ways and we have been reaping the benefits of it since then.  There was a very strong MSC presence in the school during those years and I think many people did not  anticipate this changing as quickly as it did.

I left Daramalan at the end of 2000 to become Principal of St Clare’s College, Canberra. At the time I left I never envisaged returning to work at Daramalan but I did retain close ties with a number of staff and I remained in an Associates group led by Fr Jim Littleton msc so my connection to the school and the MSCs continued during these years.

I returned to Daramalan as Principal in 2009.  I was very warmly welcomed back and offered great support in my role as Principal which enabled me to quickly take on the role that was to be very demanding yet rewarding over the next twelve years. I wish to acknowledge particularly the unfailing support of Fr Jim, Br Barry Smith and Fr Harold Baker as well as all the people who were part of the College’s Executive team and the College Board over the twelve years. I have also enjoyed a long and valued friendship with Fr Bob Irwin and other members of the MSC Education Committee as well as the Chevalier Institute staff during this time. All these people have made my job a lot easier, especially in some of the difficult times.