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    Our Parish and our College farewelled Mrs Stefanou fittingly at an official Lunch event held at The Roxy Function Centre at bayside Brighton-le-Sands in Sydney, Sunday 27th September.
The Farewell Lunch was honoured by the presence of our Primate and Father, Archbishop Makarios of Australia and His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Sevasteia.
In attendance were our Reverend Clergy, past and present members of the Board of Directors and the Board of Governors, past and present members of the Parents and Friends Association, members of the Executive and Teaching staffs, members of the ancillary staff of the Parish and the College, together with members of the Stefanou-Haag family. Mrs Synesios was the MC for this event.
Farewell Lunch Address from the Very Reverend Father S. Scoutas
In the year 2000, the Board of Governors decided that, in the interests of a more coordinated and unified approach to the delivery of quality education for our students, the leadership of St Spyridon College would be merged into one overarching position, that of “Head of College”.
Today, this might seem like the most obvious and logical direction to have taken 20 years ago. However, in the context of the College’s brief history, at the time, it was a very difficult and controversial decision, given that the School already boasted two exceptional leaders, the late founding Principal of the College, Mrs Mary Hamer at the Primary School and the founding Headmaster of the High School, Mr Nicholas Kyriacos. We recall their names, even today, with the deepest of gratitude.
In any event, an Australia-wide search commenced for a suitably qualified educationist to lead St Spyridon College into the future. After a rigorous interviewing process of the handful of applicants, each with brilliant individual qualities and experience, the Board asked Mrs Efrosini Stefanou-Haag to come to Sydney for a final interview.
Efrosini, I recall vividly that interview, held in a private function room at the Le Sands Restaurant here in Brighton. It was the first time I met you. You spoke about a Strategic Plan. You spoke of taking the school “to the next level of sophistication”. You spoke of enriching student learning experiences by incor- porating the eternal tenets of the Orthodox Faith and the universal values of Hellenism into the daily curriculum. You spoke about people “staying on the train for the journey”. These very absorbable concepts were “music to our ears”.
Your experience and insight were on display that day, as you prepared us to expect that some might choose “not to stay on the train” and “hop off at the next stop”, should you be appointed Head of College. You even challenged us, saying that the governance model of the College would also require the Parish to review its own governance structure. But you outwitted all of us. When asked whether your vision would guarantee an increase in enrolments, your 20-year experience in the public service of South Australia, your role as adviser to Ministers of Education and your intuitive perception as Head of St George College at Thebarton in Adelaide, kicked in immediately.
Your response of “no, I cannot make that commitment” stunned the Board. “I cannot guarantee an increase in enrolments”, you said, “but I will work with the team of co-workers that
I will inherit to give St Spyridon College every prospect of increasing enrolments”.
Efrosini, I also recall that very moving event in the Parish Hall at the beginning of 2001 when the community was invited to a “Meet the Head” opportunity. It should not have surprised you that your physical stature did not immediately conjure an image of strength in the perception of many who saw you for the first time. It was only when you invited all to come with you on a journey that would take the College “to the next level of sophistication” that ears pricked and people took notice of your intelligence, your intellect and your ethos.
During your remarkable 20-year tenure as Head of St Spyridon College, you have delivered three five-year Strategic Plans for the School. You predicted that the results of these plans would translate into success for the School by 2019. You outdid yourself and the school came 62nd out of 811 secondary schools in NSW at the HSC exams of 2015, with the school remaining within the top 100 schools in most years since then.
It took great confidence in the sophistication of your plan and enormous faith in the quality of your teachers and executive co-workers, to produce those results.
Efrosini, it was a huge leap of faith but the results speak for themselves. You have been a remarkable Head of College. No one and nothing is perfect in life. However, you have (!) taken our College to the next level of sophistication and, yes, the quality of your leadership has led to a huge increase in enrolments. Congratulations on a job well done.
Efrosini, clearly, you were thinking only of yourself when you made this decision to retire. But we shall forgive you. Meantime, we thank you for grooming your successor as part of your forward planning. Our School is in good stead as you hand the baton on to Mrs Amelia Katsogiannis, our new Head of College, who has stood by your side for the past 20 years with great loyalty, commitment and diligence.
You will always be welcome at St Spyridon like your home. Go and enjoy your grandchildren in retirement. They are worth every cent of your superannuation. Teach them how to have fun. Wake up at 6 o’clock on Monday mornings and drive really slow to make everybody late for work. When the traffic is at a crawl, we will know it is you having fun.
May God be with you in the next chapter of your life, Efrosini, through the intercessions of St Spyridon the Wonder-Worker.
Thank you.
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