Ms Angela O’Dwyer
Angela O’Dwyer (BA(Melb), GradDipEd (Sec)(ACU), MEd(EdMgt)(Melb), MBA (Exec)(ACU)) is Principal of Loreto Mandeville Hall Toorak, a girls’ school located in the leafy suburb of Toorak in Melbourne’s inner south-east. The School of 1200 students from Preparatory – Year 12 is frequently acknowledged as the best Catholic School in the state based on VCE results and is amongst the best Independent Girls’ Schools each year.
Angela initially joined the School as Executive Deputy Principal in 2017 and was appointed Loreto Toorak Principal-Elect in 2020. To this role, she brought her broad experience in both Secondary and Tertiary areas of Education. She flourished in her previous senior roles at some of Melbourne’s leading Associated Public Schools, including St Kevin’s College and Camberwell Grammar School, and her appointment as Deputy and Acting Head of the Senior School at Methodist Ladies College. While at MLC, she was an active member of the whole-school Wellbeing Team and Learning/Curriculum Group, simultaneously managing the Senior School Curriculum Team, with responsibility to implement the Victorian Certificate of Education, VCE-VET (Vocational Education and Training) and the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program.
During 2007-2010, Angela worked at the University of Melbourne, initially as Director of the Maria and Allan Myers Academic Centre (a resource shared between St Mary’s and Newman College) and as the Dean of Newman College. Her time here coincided with the introduction of the Melbourne Model of Education, where she worked with both Under-graduate and Post-graduate students.
Enhancing Angela’s outstanding academic qualifications is her personal experience as the mother of six daughters, all of whom are proud recipients of a Loreto Toorak education. Her family have been active members of their local parish, Immaculate Conception Church in Hawthorn, and hold strong ties to the local community. Angela’s Catholic faith is of great significance to her, and is complemented by the Mary Ward Charism, both of which underpin her personal approach to how she lives her life and leads a Catholic School.
Angela is a strong believer in lifelong education, and she continues to pursue her two passionate interests, curriculum development and environmental awareness. Her aim for the students at Loreto Toorak is to provide each student with the foundation of an education that will enable them to thrive and be the best they can be.
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