Alumni and Supporters

From her first posting as a graduate teacher in the Kimberley, to Principal of Bannister Creek Primary School - it is easy to see the passion for education and equity that drives Susan Archdall.

In a career spanning more than three decades since first graduating from ECU with a Bachelor of Arts in Education (Primary) in 1990, her stints in remote and culturally diverse locations such as Halls Creek and Christmas Island have helped shape her approach to cultural sensitivity.

“I've always been passionate about equity across the board. My dad raised me to know that everybody was equal, and you listen to everybody and learn from them,” Susan explains. “That was just core within me.

“(Prior to that) I had very little experience with Aboriginal people, and it just changed me as a human being and made me very, very passionate about Australia getting this right.”

Susan’s understanding and hard work in this field culminated in the Lynwood school winning the WA Education Award for Cultural Responsiveness in 2024, just two years after becoming principal.

“To be part of this incredible team, doing transformative work every day is so motivating,” Susan says. “I have incredible staff and a beautiful community that is incredibly rich and diverse with 51 languages. I love learning from them all and sharing in their life experiences.”

With the school formed when three former schools were amalgamated, Susan says her team carved a vision for their community and worked hard to put it into action.

“We wanted first and foremost to make sure that we understood that Aboriginal people were here first. To make sure that our Aboriginal children had the chance every single day to be connected to country and to be learning their culture through the school, and to see it reflected as they walked around.

“Then we wanted to reflect that we celebrate all people that are here now - all people in different cultures and languages are welcome and we celebrate them, and they add value to us every day.

“And thirdly, we wanted to show who we are now that we have all come together. This is who we are - Bannister Creek. This is what we stand for.”

With the major award up there as one of her greatest professional achievements, Susan says for her it is the student success stories that are the biggest highlight.

“When I think back across my career, there's literally thousands of students in that time. But there's probably 10 students whose stories are still so vested in my soul and they have gone on to do great things for themselves.

“That's it. That's why we do it.”

Despite acting in Deputy Principal roles earlier in her career, it was only in more recent years that Susan wanted to move into leadership.

“The passion of working with the students had always brought me back to the classroom,” she says. “But I think once you get a taste of leadership in terms of being impactful with a wider sphere of influence, you realise that you are doing that core work for the kids, and you are affecting more kids.

“Once I had started to do that as a deputy, I wanted that as a principal, so that I could be making sure they had what they needed. What I wanted in a principal when I was a teacher, I wanted to be that principal for them and be truly invested in making sure that they were all aspiring to be their best.”

Growth has been a driving factor throughout Susan’s career, going on to complete a Bachelor of Education in 1997, followed by a Graduate Certificate of Secondary Education in 2014.

“When I heard the decision had been made to move year sevens to high school, I thought ‘I'm going to go back and re-train and go with them and see if we can get some primary context and pastoral care into the high schools,’ which we did. It ended up being a great decision for me.”

Susan became Executive Officer of the Bibbulman Network and Chair of the steering committee, working with seven primary schools and two high schools as they prepared to relocate year sevens to high school. Following that, Susan spent six years at Kalamunda Senior High School as the Head of Year Seven.

“It was really important work. It was an incredible time of growth for me, because having access to all of the secondary teachers and the heads of learning - I just learned so much and it changed the way that I saw education.”

Susan then moved back into primary schools, becoming Deputy Principal at Gooseberry Hill Primary, followed by two fixed term Principal roles before landing her current position.

Working across eight schools, seven networks and four regions, the mum of two is as inspired and enthusiastic as when her career began – a wonderful example for graduate teachers.

“We need our passionate, ripe, fantastic graduates to go in with all guns blazing, because they make every difference to our school system,” Susan says. “I say to them if you can get out of the city and have a regional or remote experience - do it. You will never, ever look back from doing that. It will change you forever and it will be fantastic for you as a person, as well as your career.