Headquarters:
43 Kenthurst Rd
Year founded:
1982
Number of employees:
200+
Phone:
02 9654 2111
Email:
reception@hillsgrammar.nsw.edu.au
Website:
hillsgrammar.nsw.edu.au
LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/school/hills-grammar
“We put our customers at the centre of our business, responding to brokers in a proactive and timely manner and working with the customer to understand their unique risk profile and tailor appropriate solutions”
Erica Kofie, QBE
Karen Yager
Principal
David Hamper
Deputy Principal and Head of Senior School
Sarah Black
Head of Junior School
Leadership
A progressive and creative leader, Karen Yager brings more than 26 years of experience to Hills Grammar School after her most recent role as deputy headmaster K–12 at Knox Grammar. Her work in the education and academic world has been recognised with numerous awards, including the 2019 NSW Professional Teachers’ Council Award for Outstanding Service to Education.
With an emphasis on developing each student’s unique strengths, agency and voice, Yager will continue to nurture, grow and inspire the Hills Originals to achieve their potential for greatness.
She commenced as Hills Grammar’s fifth principal in January 2022 and is enjoying meeting the Hills Grammar community – students, staff and families.
Principal
Karen Yager
David Hamper joined Hills Grammar in May 2022, bringing 25 years of experience to the school. He has held a number of senior roles in diverse independent schools across Sydney, with portfolios including teaching and learning, wellbeing, innovation, staff development, human resources and school operations.
Hamper has also held a number of special advisory appointments, including in curriculum design and assessment with state and national curriculum authorities, teacher education with universities in Australia and the United States, and teacher professional learning with a number of professional associations. He is a prolific writer, having authored, edited and contributed to numerous books, journal articles and atlases across diverse topics in the humanities and within professional domains.
Deputy Principal and Head of Senior School
David Hamper
Sarah Black is a specialist in inclusive education and has worked in pre-K–12 since joining the staff of Hills Grammar in 2010. Prior to this, she worked in a range of settings, including educational consultancy, as a positive behaviour support specialist, and as a leader of professional development across a number of key areas. Black believes strongly in the importance of building genuine and meaningful connections with students, families, staff and the wider community and understands the importance of the individual in the pre-K–12 journey. As a staff member, parent and alumnus, she is well placed to understand the value of the “original” student, both past, present and future.
Head of Junior School
Sarah Black
“We put our customers at the centre of our business, responding to brokers in a proactive and timely manner and working with the customer to understand their unique risk profile and tailor appropriate solutions”
Erica Kofie, QBE
“We continue to see cyber as a key opportunity and will be further developing customer-centric solutions across various geographies and segments in line with our growth aspirations”
Erica Kofie, QBE
Leadership
“We continue to see cyber as a key opportunity and will be further developing customer-centric solutions across various geographies and segments in line with our growth aspirations”
Erica Kofie, QBE
“We put our customers at the centre of our business, responding to brokers in a proactive and timely manner and working with the customer to understand their unique risk profile and tailor appropriate solutions”
Erica Kofie, QBE
Leadership
Geoff Gates
Director of Learning and Teaching
As the director of learning and teaching from pre-K to 12, Geoff Gates works closely with the heads of ECEC, junior school and senior school to ensure a high-quality curriculum is in place across the school. He also works closely with both curriculum leaders and teachers on projects such as cultures of thinking and deep learning, where the aim is to develop innovative, 21st-century approaches to learning and teaching.
Gates started teaching at Hills Grammar in 2004. Prior to Hills, he worked in Sydney, London and Hamburg and has taught HSC, GCSE, IGCSE and IB diploma courses. His past leadership roles have included literacy coordinator, student services coordinator, and head of English. He has presented at education and university conferences on pedagogy, literature and creative writing practice.
Gates completed a Master of Arts (Creative Writing) in 2007, a Master of Education (Leadership) in 2013 and a Doctor of Creative Arts degree in 2023. He is the author of two novels and has written for both professional publications and literary journals.
Director of Learning and Teaching
Geoff Gates
Yass Sidaros
Director of Co-curricular Programs
Yass Sidaros has spent over 16 years at Hills Grammar, which has enabled him to see that what works for one student may be different for another. In his role as the director of the co-curricular program, he oversees the operation and strategic development of the school's co-curricular program, ensuring it is able to maximise the opportunities for all students in their areas of interest. The program has six core areas, including music, leadership and service, sport, outdoor education, STEM and the creative, spoken and performing arts.
Director of Co-curricular Programs
Yass Sidaros
Hills Grammar is an independent, co-educational, holistic school with students from Pre-K to Year 12 set on a leafy 53-acre campus.
Its vision is ‘to foster each student’s potential for greatness through outstanding teaching in a unique learning environment’. Hills Grammar believes students learn best in a supportive environment with passionate and inspiring teachers, combined with rich wellbeing, co-curricular and outdoor education programs.
Principal Karen Yager says, “Students flourish through extraordinary teaching. This happens when teachers and support staff are valued, trusted and supported. For us, staff wellbeing is paramount.
“We believe when teachers learn together in action learning teams informed by student data and focused on improving teaching practice with a shared vision, student performance will improve and there will be greater collective efficacy.”
When a staff member first joins the school, they are supported through an extensive induction program led by Chris Furner and Sarah Warby and, like the rest of the staff, have access to an evidence-informed five-tier Mentoring Program grounded in motivation, connection and belonging.
Yager says, “During a time when teacher retention and attraction is challenging, our school has been able to support and source the highest quality staff nationally and internationally. We provide ongoing bespoke support to ensure authentic care for our staff.”
Informed by a unique professional learning development framework, staff are supported to reach their potential with teachers able to set career and professional learning goals related to teacher accreditation across all career stages, as well as set goals for student learning in Hills Grammar’s best practice, research-based Action Learning program.
Hills Grammar’s leader of professional growth, Sarah Warby, supports teachers to set growth goals and engage in the highest levels of teacher accreditation. She works with universities, TAFE and the AIS NSW to attract and support professional experience students at the school.
Staff have the chance to engage in three bespoke Aspiring to Leadership programs and book sessions with the house-certified coaching team to explore opportunities for growth. Furthermore, teachers can join a team of Innovation Leaders who are learning about and leading the use of generative AI across the school.
Furner says, “Our staff appreciate the range of opportunities we offer to engage in growth and development, share practice and celebrate their expertise.”
Moving forward, Hills Grammar has goals to further explore and extend staff opportunity, expertise, wellbeing, agency and success.
Recent accolades of the school’s staff include:
“We continue to see cyber as a key opportunity and will be further developing customer-centric solutions across various geographies and segments in line with our growth aspirations”
Erica Kofie, QBE
Christine Furner
Director of Professional Learning
Lily Ng
Director of Business Operations
Claire Napoli
Director of Advancement and Engagement
Adam Wollins
Director of ICT
Chris Furner has held a number of teaching and leadership positions across state and independent schools. A career highlight has been the completion of a PhD on how to boost teacher learning across all career stages as a means to improve practice and accelerate student learning outcomes. She enjoys developing whole-school staff development initiatives and professional learning programs that inspire and encourage teachers and leaders and coaching them towards “outstanding teaching”.
Director of Professional Learning
Christine Furner
As a seasoned business manager of independent schools for over 15 years, Lily Ng brings to Hills Grammar her vast experience and in-depth knowledge in the commercial management of independent schools as successful businesses.
Ng is acutely aware that independent schools have all the fiduciary, financial, risk management and governance duties legally required by businesses. She expects and delivers the very best management and conduct with the highest integrity, with the best interests of Hills Grammar as her central focus.
Director of Business Operations
Lily Ng
As the director of advancement and engagement, Claire Napoli’s role encompasses internal and external communications, enrolment, branding, school events, community relations, alumni, archiving and reception. She has a degree in business and over 20 years of marketing and business development experience. Napoli started her career in public relations and event management before moving into marketing and business development roles in the professional services sector, particularly corporate law firms.
Director of Advancement and Engagement
Claire Napoli
Adam Wollins joined Hills Grammar in July 2023. He has over 20 years of experience in the education sector, including in schools, TAFEs, universities and the NSW Department of Education. He has a proven track record in the effective creation, development and leadership of high-performing ICT transformational and operational support teams.
Director of ICT
Adam Wollins
Adam Wollins joined Hills Grammar in July 2023. He has over 20 years of experience in the education sector, including in schools, TAFEs, universities and the NSW Department of Education. He has a proven track record in the effective creation, development and leadership of high-performing ICT transformational and operational support teams.
Director of ICT
Adam Wollins
Adam Wollins joined Hills Grammar in July 2023. He has over 20 years of experience in the education sector, including in schools, TAFEs, universities and the NSW Department of Education. He has a proven track record in the effective creation, development and leadership of high-performing ICT transformational and operational support teams.
Director of ICT
Adam Wollins
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Broker's Pick – Personal Accident and Illness Insurance
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Small business
Professional Teachers’ Council Professional Service award and the Rising Stars 2024 award
staff recognised as The Educator’s Most Influential Educators
speaking at numerous national and international conferences
30 staff presented at the in-house Professional Learning program delivered within the Hills Grammar The Learning Centre
partnering with the NSW Teacher Guild to provide professional learning to regional and remote teachers
“As a school, we celebrate the contribution our staff are making both in the school and beyond in the broader educational community,” says Yager.