Headquarters:
172 Burke Road, Glen Iris, VIC 3146
Year founded:
1888
Number of employees:
137
Phone:
03 9835 2700
Email:
reception@sac.vic.edu.au
Website:
sacrecoeur.vic.edu.au
LinkedIn:
au.linkedin.com/school/sacre-coeur
Adelina Melia-Douvos
Principal
Megan Marshall
Deputy Principal and Director of Staff
Dominic Langdon
Director of Business
Leadership
As an educational leader, with over 35 years of experience, Adelina Melia-Douvos
is committed and resolved to delivering excellent education to young people have remained unwavering. She embarked on my vocation, motivated by the fundamental belief that she has the responsibility and the power to bring hope to young people, to create possibilities for them and to provide them with the opportunities and means to create purposeful and meaningful lives.
Melia-Douvos’ educational philosophy has always translated into a moral imperative, based on delivering student-centred education with learning and teaching practices preparing students to be future-ready. Her own experience of education was transformative. Exemplary educators throughout her life championed and challenged her to pursue excellence; each of them evoked an enduring passion for learning and her education was one which was profoundly relational, engaging my heart and mind equally.
She believes in the transformative power of education and the generative possibilities for the individual and for society, both at a local setting and within a global context, when students’ passions are ignited.
Having majored in English and Classics, my early teaching career saw her impart a love of literature and writing. Additionally, she was appointed to middle leadership roles relatively early in her career, sparking a desire to lead beyond the classroom. Over the years, she has undertaken a wide range of middle and senior leadership roles in the areas of curriculum, wellbeing, faith development and senior organisational management. Her journey to principalship has been driven by a strong sense of purpose and an insatiable desire to pay it forward – courage and stoicism have guided her on her path, the result of which has been this most rewarding and fulfilling opportunity to be custodian, albeit for a mere chapter, in the rich narrative of Sacré Cœur.
Principal
Adelina Melia-Douvos
Dr Gareth Leechman has served as Headmaster of Arndell Anglican College since 2010, guiding the school through a profound cultural and financial turnaround. A recognised scholar-leader, his doctoral research produced the Good School Governance Framework, and he was recently honoured as a recipient of The Educator’s Most Influential Award.
Under his stewardship, Arndell has achieved record-breaking enrolments of over 1,250 students. Dr Leechman oversees the day-to-day management, cultural vitality and educational excellence of the College, working closely with his Executive Team to remain deeply connected to the lived experience of the classroom floor.
Headmaster
Dr Gareth Leechman
Austin Robinson serves as deputy head at Arndell Anglican College, playing a pivotal role in the school’s leadership structure. Tasked with overseeing Whole-School Strategy and Operations, Robinson ensures complete operational alignment with the College’s core strategic priorities. He works cohesively across the College to mentor middle leaders and support staff, ensuring that daily life at the College runs seamlessly.
By bridging long-term strategic vision with practical, day-to-day execution, Robinson maintains a grounded, stable and highly organised environment where both staff and students can consistently perform at their highest level.
Deputy Head
Austin Robinson
Janine Hogan
Head of Junior School
Lindsay Crump serves as director of business services and college council secretary at Arndell Anglican College, managing the school’s operational and financial stewardship. She keeps the College on a firm foundation of long-term sustainability through exceptional resource allocation and meticulous fiscal management.
Her diligent leadership ensures that Arndell balances high-quality, modern facilities and premium educational tools with highly affordable tuition fees for families. By maintaining absolute financial health behind the scenes, Crump ensures the College can continually deliver on its strategic priorities and ambitious educational goals.
Director of Business Services
Lindsay Crump
Greg Savy
Director of Operations
Tamasin Lowe serves as head of junior school at Arndell Anglican College, where she expertly guides the foundational years of a child’s educational journey. Dedicated to the core mission of nurturing with care, she fosters a safe, supportive, and stimulating learning environment from a student’s very first steps at the College.
As a member of the collaborative leadership team, Lowe mentors staff and works closely with families to cultivate a vibrant culture in the Junior School. Her leadership ensures that Junior School students develop a lifelong love for learning, strong character values, and academic confidence.
Head of Junior School
Tamasin Lowe
Erin Clements
Director of Learning and Teaching
Chris Maguire
Director of Student Wellbeing (7-12)
Anna Stratford
Director of Mission
Natalia Visic
Director of Risk and Compliance and Child Safety Officer
Stuart Ryan serves as head of secondary school at Arndell Anglican College, where he directs the educational and personal growth of older students. Focusing heavily on academic rigour and high expectations, he ensures that the Secondary School maintains a culture of achievement and personal responsibility.
Ryan works collaboratively to provide diverse vocational pathways and robust academic programs that cater to varying student needs. Through his supportive leadership style, he empowers Secondary School students to build the critical skills, resilience and confidence necessary to graduate as capable, future-focused leaders.
Head of Secondary School
Stuart Ryan
Michelle Wilson serves as the Director of Wellbeing & Community Service P–12, leading Arndell Anglican College’s commitment to holistic care. Mrs Wilson oversees a multi-layered support network, including the House Pastoral Care Program, professional counselling services, the school Health Clinic, and proactive student safety frameworks.
Wilson’s leadership ensures that the value of nurturing with care is deeply embedded into the daily life of every student. By prioritising emotional safety and mental health alongside academic pursuits, she creates a supportive community where every single child feels safe, valued and known.
Director of Wellbeing & Community Service P–12
Michelle Wilson
Reverend Jeremy Clark serves as the Senior Chaplain at Arndell Anglican College, guiding the spiritual heartbeat and cultural ethos of the school community. Leading the Chaplaincy and Biblical Studies team, Reverend Clark is dedicated to the core mission of leading with faith. He oversees chapel services, supports student wellbeing, and implements a thoughtful biblical studies curriculum across all year levels.
Reverend Clark’s collaborative leadership fosters an authentic, respectful environment where students can explore the Christian faith, ask deep questions and grow into principled, compassionate leaders who are deeply grounded in their values.
Senior Chaplain
Reverend Jeremy Clark
Stephen McMillan first entered the financial services Industry when he joined GE Capital as a finance analyst in 2008, from which he progressed through roles working both onshore and offshore. From there, he moved into Pacific Premium Funding as a financial planning and analysis leader in 2012 and was a key resource in the evolution of the business, first with the successful sale to Macquarie Pacific Funding and then the following progression into IQumulate Premium Funding, where he is now the commercial manager.
As commercial manager, McMillan leads a team that is responsible for commercial analysis and business support, identifying and reporting improvement initiatives, and the securitization and treasury functions of the business.
Commercial Manager
Stephen McMillan
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Adam Basaldella
Manager – Claims
Stephen McMillan first entered the financial services Industry when he joined GE Capital as a finance analyst in 2008, from which he progressed through roles working both onshore and offshore. From there, he moved into Pacific Premium Funding as a financial planning and analysis leader in 2012 and was a key resource in the evolution of the business, first with the successful sale to Macquarie Pacific Funding and then the following progression into IQumulate Premium Funding, where he is now the commercial manager.
As commercial manager, McMillan leads a team that is responsible for commercial analysis and business support, identifying and reporting improvement initiatives, and the securitization and treasury functions of the business.
Product Manager
Claire Watson
Stephen McMillan first entered the financial services Industry when he joined GE Capital as a finance analyst in 2008, from which he progressed through roles working both onshore and offshore. From there, he moved into Pacific Premium Funding as a financial planning and analysis leader in 2012 and was a key resource in the evolution of the business, first with the successful sale to Macquarie Pacific Funding and then the following progression into IQumulate Premium Funding, where he is now the commercial manager.
As commercial manager, McMillan leads a team that is responsible for commercial analysis and business support, identifying and reporting improvement initiatives, and the securitization and treasury functions of the business.
Commercial Manager
Stephen McMillan
The same philosophy extends beyond the classroom. Through sport, music and the performing arts, our students are supported to explore their passions, embrace new experiences, broaden their circles and develop important life skills. A further expression of this is our annual House Arts Festival, where every student contributes to a 20-minute performance, working across Year Levels in dance, drama, vocals, music, production and design. It is not simply an arts event. It asks students to contribute, collaborate, take responsibility and find their place within something larger than themselves.
The same balance of challenge and care shapes student support at our private girls’ school. Three psychologists work across Year Levels, alongside tutoring, learning enhancement, restorative practices and dedicated spaces for our students, including a sensory room. These structures help students build self-awareness, self-regulation and accountability. Care does not remove expectation; it gives students the support to meet it.
Sacré Cœur’s global Sacred Heart network gives students further opportunities to put these capacities into practice beyond the familiar. Reciprocal exchange programs connect students with sister schools in Austria, Canada, France, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom, while ANZNet exchanges and the Indigenous Immersion Trip to Far North Queensland ask students to listen, adapt, exercise judgement and engage with different perspectives.
From 2027, this philosophy will also shape the structure of the School through a three-stage model spanning Prep to Year 4, Years 5 to 8 and Years 9 to 12. Each stage is designed around the developmental needs of the young person.
At Sacré Cœur, Year 12 matters. But it is not the destination. The work of girls’ education is to form young women ready to keep learning, growing and becoming long after they leave our care.
Sacré Cœur is a girls’ school that does not aim to turn our students small and finished. What does that mean? Quite simply, we do not believe education ends when a young woman graduates in Year 12.
As educators, our work is to cultivate in our students the curiosity to keep learning, the judgement to make sense of complexity and the sense of self to meet what comes next. That belief has deep roots at Sacré Cœur. The pioneering women who established the Sacred Heart educational tradition understood that education should form the whole person – intellect, character, compassion and spirit – and that growth does not come from removing difficulty, but from developing the capacity to meet it.
At Sacré Cœur, we think of this as forming a young woman’s inner architecture. For teachers, formation is not an adjunct to academic work; it shapes the work. Academic excellence matters deeply, but never in isolation. Students are stretched and supported to think clearly, act with intent and develop the steadiness, self-awareness and discernment that will hold long after school.
Our Future Fit Framework gives this philosophy practical form, embedding purpose, excellence, care, hope and connection across learning and wellbeing, alongside three learning dispositions: developing thinking, deepening understanding and designing solutions. The outcomes are tangible. As an open-entry school and a leading girls’ school in Melbourne, Sacré Cœur enables more than half of our Year 12 students to consistently achieve ATARs above 90, in a culture where students actively support one another to succeed.
“The work of education is to form young women ready to keep learning, growing and becoming long after they leave our care”
Adelina Melia-Douvos, Sacré Cœur
“Growth does not come from removing difficulty, but from developing the capacity to meet it”
Adelina Melia-Douvos, Sacré Cœur