Hayley Berry

Jacinta and Anika, 2025 Pangea School Captains, are tasked with leading and inspiring their online school community.  

Jacinta joined Haileybury Pangea in the middle of 2024 and was inspired to apply to be a School Captain by the impact of the inaugural captains, Sean and Maddy.  

“Their compassion extended through the computer screen and helped me and so many others to find a place in the Haileybury Pangea community. They provided a blueprint of how to connect with your peers online,” says Jacinta. 

Jacinta and Anika are tasked with a leadership role, alongside year-level representatives, to act as bridges between the voices of students, teachers, Head of House and Head of Campus.  

School leaders, like Jacinta and Anika, are role models who work closely with Natasha Eshuis, Head of House, to identify areas where improvements can be made to enhance each student’s learning journey. 

“We know our Captains at Haileybury Pangea will gain confidence and develop strong leadership skills. They will also help shape the School’s culture while improving their own communication and teamwork abilities,” says Natasha. 

Earlier this year students met in Melbourne for a Leadership Day that helped build unity among 2025 School student leaders. 

“The day reinforced that leadership is about collaboration and that every student has a valuable role to play in shaping the school community. They were able to practice their public speaking skills and gain confidence in representing Haileybury Pangea beyond the school,” says Natasha.  

Both Anika and Jacinta are keen to celebrate the unique sense of community and to support other students when they join Haileybury Pangea. 

Anika is hoping to “continue that feeling of community across the online sphere. As a Year 12 student, I also want to make sure that we all enjoy the Year 12 experience, alongside working towards academic excellence.” 

From classroom pranks to a love of Shakespeare, we reflect on the contributions of Marjorie Cuddihy and Janet Strachan, two of our early female educators, who both share a strong passion for teaching and supporting students.  

Majorie Cuddihy taught at Haileybury Brighton in the fifties and sixties, while Janet Strachan shared her deep love for literature with Keysborough students for nearly three decades. 

Marjorie Cuddihy, Haileybury teacher: 1949–1970  

Marjorie (Marj) Cuddihy was born in Queensferry, a once important port town on the Bass Coast in Gippsland. Later, her family moved to Melbourne, and she attended Coburg High School.  

In her early teaching days she did not own a car. She had to take a tram, train and bus to get to Haileybury. She eventually obtained her driver licence on the day before she became a grandmother. 

Mrs Cuddihy joined the Sub Primary staff at Brighton in 1949 and was appointed the Sub Primary Directress in 1956. She was a caring and protective guardian of her students, and her aim was to bring out the best in everyone. She did not need to raise her voice in class as she would lower it instead. Mrs Cuddihy did not believe in corporal punishment and would give misbehaving students a ‘time-out’ instead. 

She was involved in arranging annual concerts and went on School trips to the snow every second year. Once some boys put a large spider on her desk. Mrs Cuddihy simply placed a glass over it and took the spider outside. This impressed the class, but she later reflected that “If I had shown I was scared, it was all over!” 

One of the Girls’ Houses at Keysborough is named in her honour and her son Ian attended Haileybury. 

After her retirement, Mrs Cuddihy continued to attend School functions and House athletics days where she always remembered boys’ names. 

Marjorie passed away on 29 August 2003. 

Janet Strachan, Haileybury teacher: 1986–2012 

When Janet started at Keysborough’s Senior School, she was one of the few women on a staff of around 100.  

In the classroom there was a strong academic atmosphere, but the teaching was largely by rote, meaning the students repeated what they were told or shown.  

The most fulfilling part of her teaching career was in the early 2000s when Dr Pargetter encouraged students who loved literature to take enrichment classes through from Year 9 to Year 12. She loved helping young people to value learning about life through literature. 

Janet’s own love of reading started as a young girl in Wales. There was no television or social media, and the weather was often bad, so reading was a great escape. She especially loved the Arthurian legends of her Welsh culture as well as Norse stories and Greek and Roman myths. She also loves the works of Shakespeare and Margaret Attwood.  

Poetry was always an important part of her life. As a child she was in awe of the local bards who composed complex verses for the Eisteddfod, a cultural competition held annually.  Now retired, she still takes a poetry class at the University of the Third Age. 

Janet feels blessed to have spent her life reading and discussing literature. 

Today Haileybury is proud of our talented team of men and women, who hold diverse roles and leadership positions across the School.