SUZANNE Fern does not shy away from challenges.
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The day after she was offered the role of foundation principal at St Aloysius Catholic Primary School Chisholm on a Thursday in 2014, she and her teacher husband Tony Fern drove from their Armidale home to see the school slab.
By the end of the weekend they'd bought a block of land in the neighbourhood and signed up with a builder. Within six months, she'd decided on the school's uniform, furniture, hired all the teachers and met all the new students and their families.
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"It was so exciting," she said. "I think it's a highlight of my career and an opportunity not many people get.
"It was unreal, but so rewarding."
Mrs Fern spent three and a half years at the school, before starting her current role as the Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle's Head of Teaching and Learning.
She will retire on December 17 after 42 years in Catholic education.
"It is a long time, I've felt like I've had lots of opportunities to make a difference - I guess that's what most teachers want to go into the profession for, to make a difference for their students, colleagues, school communities or in this case a system."
Mrs Fern said COVID-19 had brought forward her plans to retire.
Her and Mr Fern's mothers, the couple's three children and 10 grandchildren are all spread between Lismore and Mackay.
"It's time to be close to family, that's been a huge thing on our minds. We did a five week caravan trip in July and that whet our appetite as well to do more travelling in Australia."
Mrs Fern considered a few careers but said it "just seemed natural to me to become a teacher", like her Mum.
She enrolled at the Catholic College of Education in Castle Hill, where she met her future husband.
Her first teaching position was in 1980 at Christ The King Primary North Rocks, where she spent six years.
Her family then relocated to a farm in Lismore, where she spent three years working as a casual teacher at an infants school and then 10 years as a teacher, coordinator and acting assistant principal at St Joseph's Primary Alstonville.
She spent nine years as a teacher and assistant principal at St Carthage's Primary Lismore, which included two years at the Catholic Schools Office Lismore, where she worked as an education officer for primary curriculum.
It was also during this time she studied for her Master of Education (Curriculum) at Deakin University.
She and her husband then decided to "take a big leap" and she moved "with new eyes" to St Mary's Catholic Primary Armidale, where she spent six and a half years as principal and completed her Master of Educational Leadership at Australian Catholic University.
Mrs Fern started at St Aloysius in May 2014, ahead of its 2015 opening. The school grew from 237 to 530 students under her watch and from two to three streams, or classes per grade.
She started her current role in 2018, overseeing teaching and learning for all 58 schools across the diocese.
Her team includes counsellors, the student support team, primary and secondary curriculum, Aboriginal education, digital learning, gifted education, early learning, sport and working parties focused on strategic direction.
"We have to be forward thinking," she said.
"We're supporting what's happening in the schools, but we're also thinking forward."
She said when she arrived, schools were working in silos and charting their own directions.
"I could see that people were really keen to be moving where the research told us, but the direction hadn't come from the office about saying 'How can we be moving towards what the research is telling us is best for students and teachers and for learning'... [I needed to work out] who was leading the research that would help chart the direction that was at the right time and giving the right message for our very diverse schools."
The diocese has been working with educational leader Dr Lyn Sharratt and following her 14 Parameters of System and School Improvement framework since 2019.
"We've put in structures that have really enabled much more networking and collaboration and sharing of practice and sharing of data between schools."
Mrs Fern said the couple would spend Christmas with family, before a year-long caravan trip.
They will then move to the Gold Coast hinterland. Mrs Fern said she was looking forward to more time for guitar, jigsaws, crafts and volunteering, but would always be interested in education.
"It's a bit surreal at the moment... it's always hard when you hand in your key," she said.
"It has not sunk in and I don't think it will until school returns next year."
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