College Leadership Team
Principal, Mr Graham Leddie
Principal, Graham Leddie
BA GradDipEd MEDL MRE MACE
Graham Leddie was appointed Principal of Waverley College in January 2017. Mr Leddie is passionate about boys’ education and believes that learning outcomes are closely linked to the quality of the teacher as well as students social and emotional wellbeing.
“Waverley College is at the forefront of Catholic education in Australia and has a strategic direction to develop innovative learning, student formation and wellbeing programs designed to assist boys to flourish across their spiritual, intellectual, social, emotional, cultural and physical dimensions.
I am excited to be a part of the College as it continues to educate young men, challenging them to actively reflect on their learning and to develop habits that help them become lifelong learners.”said Mr Leddie.
Prior to his appointment at Waverley College, Mr Leddie was Deputy Principal at St Joseph’s Nudgee College in Queensland, an Edmund Rice School which participates in the GPS Association. Prior to the role as deputy, he held two other senior positions as Dean of Administration and Dean of Teaching and Learning. During his early teaching career, he worked at the Rockhampton Grammar School and SCECGS Redlands.
Mr Leddie was educated at Sydney Grammar and holds a Master of Educational Leadership and a Master of Religious Education from the Australian Catholic University and Boston College. Recently he completed the Business Executive Program at the Stanford Business School where he focused on developing innovative practices, strategic leadership in dynamic environments, managing bias in strategic judgement and strategic crisis management.
Graham has two children and loves sports and the great outdoors. He has climbed many mountains around the world including Aconcagua and Kilimanjaro.
Deputy Principal – Students, Ms Gabrielle Smith
Deputy Principal – Students, Gabrielle Smith
BEd MEd
Gabrielle joined Waverley College in 2018 as Director of the Junior School bringing considerable expertise in the delivery of innovative and challenging pedagogy.
Prior to her appointment at Waverley College, Gabrielle was Acting Head of Junior School – Loreto Kirribilli, where she taught and worked for 12 years. Her previous roles included Head of Curriculum, Religious Education Coordinator and Assistant Head of Junior School. Prior to Loreto Kirribilli, Gabrielle worked at St Scholastica’s College Glebe, and Stonar School, Bath, England.
Gabrielle holds a Master of Education and Bachelor of Education and was recently awarded a National Excellence in School Leadership Initiative Scholarship.
Gabrielle is passionate about delivering an education that equips the students in her care with the skills to thrive in the world they will enter at the completion of school. The world is changing at a rapid rate, and students need to be able to critically think, communicate, collaborate and create to keep up. She believes in the importance of driving school-wide pedagogy that supports this through the explicit teaching of these domains.
Three key focus areas Gabrielle has been working on in her role as Acting Deputy Principal (Teaching and Learning) include Collaborative Learning Spaces, the Learning Walk Program and Deep Learning.
Gabrielle has spoken of some of her other highlights since beginning at Waverley – her launching of the new Learning Hub in the Junior School; developing a Lunchtime Talks initiative where inspiring members of our community are invited in to share their career journey; developing STEM Club, Innovation Club and Sustainability Club, and spearheading the future ‘Wingara’ project – the 5,000m2 of bushland behind the Junior School.
Deputy Principal – Teaching & Learning, Ms Lynsey Porter
Deputy Principal – Teaching & Learning, Lynsey Porter
BA (Hons) PGCE English
Lynsey Porter is the Director of Curriculum at Waverley College. She has been an educator for 18 years including 14 years at Waverley College and eight years in the role of Head of English. She has also delivered English teaching methods to undergraduates at Southern Cross University. Lynsey graduated from the University of Liverpool in the UK attaining a Bachelor of Arts with honours in English Language and Literature. She then embarked on post-graduate study in education by completing her Post Graduate Certificate in Secondary Education at the University of Manchester also in the UK. Lynsey’s expertise in curriculum is in the area of English where she has 15 years of experience as an HSC teacher and HSC marker across all English courses.
Lynsey is passionate about raising standards of literacy and numeracy across the curriculum and honing twenty-first century skills such as critical and creative thinking and communication. She defines herself as a lifelong learner and recognises the need for both educators and students to be open to the possibilities of changing the face of education both now and in the future. To this end, Lynsey identifies the mentoring of other educators, as they embark on their own career journey, as imperative. Lynsey finds it difficult to pinpoint a specific favourite teaching moment but finds joy in the moment any student in her class gains the confidence to work independently from her and trust in their own ability.
Director of the Junior School, Ms Gaby Bransby
Director of Junior School, Gabrielle Bransby
Gabrielle was appointed as the Director of the Junior School in December 2022. She held this position for 18 months previously in July 2020. She joined Waverley College in 2011. Prior to her appointment as Director, Gabrielle held the position of Assistant Director of Junior School/Curriculum for one year and previous to that held Assistant Director of Curriculum for six years.
Gabrielle holds a Bachelor of Education and is currently completing her Masters in Religious Education. She was recently awarded a National Excellence in School Leadership Initiative Scholarship.
Gabrielle is passionate about creating a learning environment where students are able to thrive, follow their interests and passions and be equipped with the skills required for an ever-changing world. She believes teaching fundamental skills is paramount in education as well as providing rich, authentic and challenging programs for all students.
Gabrielle has spoken of some of her other highlights since beginning at Waverley – the launch of one-to-one devices for each student, the implementation of flexible furniture, new innovative and creative programs and LMS systems, the creation of the Teaching and Learning Framework, and the opening of the new classroom and playground space in the Junior School in 2021. Most recently, she has been part of the design and set up of the new Science Laboratory in the Junior School.
Director of Co-curricular, Mr Stephen O’Donnell
Director of Co-curricular, Stephen O’Donnell
BEd Human Movement and Health Education
Stephen has 23 years of teaching experience in a range of schools throughout Sydney and in the UK. Mr O’Donnell holds a Bachelor of Education (Human Movement and Health Education) from the University of Sydney, as well as a Certificate in Religious Education RLSSA and SLS. He is a Bronze Examiner, St John First Aid – Trainer and Assessor / Advanced First Aid.
It was a personally significant moment returning to the College as an Old Boy (Class of 1990) and joining the teaching staff. Other highlights include winning the 2017 Dual Football and Rugby CAS premiership.
His passions include teaching PDHPE to the young boys of Waverley as well as Surf Lifesaving in his free time.
Director of Curriculum, Ms Martina Cooper
Director of Curriculum, Martina Cooper
BA (Hons) Mathematics and Geography
Martina Cooper is the Acting Director of Curriculum at Waverley College. She has been a curriculum leader for over 20 years including nine years as Head of Religion at Waverley College. Martina graduated from University College Cork in Ireland attaining a Bachelor of Arts, with honours, in Geography and Mathematics. She then embarked on a range of postgraduate study, including diplomas in Education, Catechetics and TESOL. Martina has a range of expertise in the delivery of curriculum from Mathematics to Literacy, Geography and Religion. Prior to commencing at Waverley College in 2015, she was Director of Religion and previously Mathematics Coordinator at St Clare’s College, Waverley. Martina has significant experience as a HSC marker, ultimately a Senior Marker and then the Supervisor of Marking for Studies of Religion (2019-23).
Martina is passionate about providing a holistic education for boys in the EREA context. Having grown up in Waterford, Ireland, she feels a sense of responsibility to ensure that the legacy of Blessed Edmund Rice lives on at Waverley College. To this end, Martina always strives to foster and develop interfaith dialogue opportunities for staff and students. Her educational philosophy is based around a liberating education that develops and nurtures globally-minded citizens. Martina pinpoints a number of highlights in her teaching career, in particular the joy, affirmation and excitement in enabling students to achieve First in State ranks for Studies of Religion: SOR I at St Clare’s College and SOR II at Waverley College.
Martina’s other passions include food and travel but she finds it difficult to pinpoint the best place she has been, citing amazing adventures in countries like China, India, Israel, Jordan, Kenya and many in Europe too.
Director of Mission & Identity, Ms Suzanne Walsh
Director of Mission & Identity, Suzanne Walsh
BEd, MEd
Sue has been teaching for 30 years and during this time has held a wide range of Pastoral Leadership positions in different Catholic schools throughout Australia and the USA. She has taught at St Joseph’s Regional and Mackillop Senior College in Port Macquarie, St Ignatius’ College Riverview and St Louis University High School, in St Louis, Missouri. She has recently joined the Waverley College leadership team after three years at The Cardoner Project – a Jesuit youth ministry offering service experiences to students post-school.
Sue has a Bachelor of Education from the University of Sydney and a Masters in Educational Leadership from the Australian Catholic University. In addition to this, she also holds a Diploma in Catechetics from the Thomas Aquinas Academy.
Sue is an enthusiastic Business Studies, Commerce, Geography and RE Teacher and throughout her teaching career, one of her most memorable teaching moments was working with students on a camp for children with disabilities, and seeing the smiles on the students’ faces as they interacted with the “big guys” and noting that the senior students were even more thrilled.
Director of ICT, Campus & Innovation, Mr Simon Potter
Director of ICT, Campus & Innovation, Simon Potter
Originally from the eastern part of England and having graduated from Queen Mary’s College, Basingstoke in Geology and Geography, Simon began his IT career working in a UK government department providing support on network infrastructure. He then certified as a Novell Master Engineer and moved on to a Post Graduate Legal College initially providing Level 3 support and then subsequently moving into a Team Leader role within the same organisation.
He emigrated to Australia with his Australian wife in September 2005 and commenced work at Waverley College as the sole IT Support person in November that year. Since those early days, he is now the proud father of three children and has progressed from IT Manager into his current role of Director of ICT, Campus and Innovation. Throughout his early career, he developed a strong customer service ethic and a passion for supporting technology in the Education space. He is most proud of the development of the IT Support structures that have matured at Waverley and which provide excellent support to all members of the Waverley community.
Director of Business Services, Jon Phillips
Director of Business Services, Jon Phillips
Jonathan Phillips serves as the (Acting) Director of Business Services at Waverley College, where he seamlessly blends financial acumen with a passion for education. Qualified with a Master of Business in Accounting from the University of Technology, Sydney, Mr Phillips pivoted from a successful career in finance to contribute his skills to the education sector.
In his role, Mr Phillips oversees the efficient management of the College’s finance functions including budgeting, procurement, and asset management, ensuring the College’s fiscal health thrives. His leadership has fostered a collaborative and innovative finance team, prioritising resources towards improving the College. Beyond his business management responsibilities, Mr Phillips is actively involved with the local community promoting the College and its facilities.
An active member of several financial associations, Mr Phillips stays abreast of industry trends, embodying integrity and transparency. Trusted by the College leadership, Finance Committee, and local community, he navigates economic uncertainties, solidifying Waverley College’s financial foundation. Mr Phillips’ dedication to the synergy of finance and education embodies Waverley College’s commitment to excellence, ensuring a robust platform for sustained growth and success.
