Kendal Hann, our new Manager of the Tallong Campus, has a broad range of experience in schools, TAFE and the corporate sector. He says education is at the heart of all he does.
He teaches and he learns, holding a Bachelor of Sports Science degree and a Master’s in Organisational Learning. Mr Hann’s first career was as an outdoor education teacher. After several years in other schools, he won his ‘dream job’ (at the time) of Santa Sabina’s first K-12 Outdoor Education Coordinator in the early 2000s.
He relished putting together an outstanding program for our students and teachers which included trips to Tasmania, a ‘surfing safari’ to Queensland, ski trips and 140 days a year (for him at least) living in a tent at Tallong and elsewhere in regional Australia.
But the wider world beckoned and Mr Hann left Santa in 2009 to travel Australia and the world teaching personal and learning development to adults in the corporate sector. Clients of his Melbourne-based business included CBA, NAB and Optus and his programs resulted in improved team performance and enhanced self-awareness in adults. He greatly enjoyed the work but realised last year that it was time for a lifestyle change.
By now married and a father of two young sons, Mr Hann and his wife Kerry last year looked to leave city life behind and reconnect with nature.
‘There were only so many lattes and hipsters we could take’, he says, laughing.
At his interview for the Tallong management position, Mr Hann immediately felt an overwhelming sense of ‘rightness and homecoming’ to be back in the Santa Sabina family. He already knows Tallong well and he is thrilled to have reconnected with his first passion, outdoor education.
‘I’m looking forward to driving change and creating even more powerful learning experiences for students and staff,’ he says.
‘I’d like to build on Tallong’s great reputation and we are the only girls’ school in NSW to own a centre like this. Our students and classes from other schools come back year after year for amazing food and accommodation and the great programs we run. We can be a thought leader in this space’.
‘Santa Sabina has a great history with experiential learning.’
Spending a few nights under the stars is back on Mr Hann’s agenda this year, as Tallong is our Service Provider for Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Adventurous Journeys. But any camping at Tallong will come on top of his personal after-hours trips – camping with his sons and river trips with his friends are his top two activities for unwinding away from work.
For his children and for the children of Santa Sabina College, Mr Hann foresees a future containing a certain measure of volatility and uncertainty. But the leadership and personal development programs available at Tallong under his management will future-proof them for the complex world ahead of them, as they courageously shake the world.
Mrs Victoria Harper
Publications and Marketing Officer
