Holistic educator

Dedicated to all-round growth of school community

Chantelle Manoe (BEd, 2004) believes if teachers can support the emotional needs of students then learning outcomes will follow. “Behaviour communicates a need. If you understand that need, students will feel validated and can move through their circumstances to focus on the present.” Our words and actions have a lasting impact, “so we get to determine if it is positive or negative by how we lead in our classrooms.”

As deputy principal and a certified Teacher Effectiveness Trainer, Chantelle is committed to enhancing teaching practices at Macarthur Adventist College. A diploma in counselling underpins a focus on holistic education that “defines her time here,” says principal Sam Lett. “She’s played a major role in bringing together our learning, wellbeing and enrichment departments into a single space. The HUB has become a haven for students while creating a collaborative environment for staff.”

Her commitment extends beyond the classroom; Chantelle serves as a mentor for the Student Leadership Team and coaches a basketball team.

Sport is a big part of Chantelle’s life, winning national titles in mini golf with her family and playing state league basketball. She enjoyed sport at Avondale, too, but fondly remembers other experiences such as the spirituality on campus—“I gave my life to Jesus”—the professional placements for teachers-in-training and developing lifelong friendships. She also led a STORMCo to Gwabegar, a town to which she would return with the service learning team for 10 years.

Chantelle graduated with a major in personal development, health and physical education. She taught the subject at her first three schools, Mountain View, Macquarie and Thomas Carr Colleges, and at Macarthur before taking on a role as a mental health advocate—coordinating wellbeing and working as a counsellor.

At home, Chantelle leads her family—sons Malachi and Zechariah—with the same passion she brings to leading the secondary school team at Macarthur. “They are constantly teaching me about myself, and about how we learn. And they bring more adventure, fun and joy to life.”

The Class of 2004 honours Chantelle Manoe as an innovative educator dedicated to the all-round growth of her school community.