Same but different
When women lead boys schools
Silvana Rossetti Silvana Rossetti is making history as the first female principal at 84-year-old boys’ school Marist College Eastwood, in Sydney’s north-west. A couple of times a student has greeted her in the corridor with: “Good morning, Sir – I mean Miss. Sorry Miss, force of habit!”
Two women principals were recently appointed to boys schools. They talk to journalist Sue Osborne about breaking new ground and what they bring to the table. Since 2021 dawned, a series of media reports have raised serious and disturbing questions around gender roles and respectful relationships, particularly in the nongovernment school sector. As schools strive to understand and change this, we talk to two principals who are already making a big difference.
16 | independent education | issue 2 | Vol 51 | 2021
Vicki Lavorato Dr Vittoria Lavorato (known as Vicki) has recently taken the reins at St Patrick’s College Strathfield, a Catholic primary and secondary school in the inner-western Sydney suburb of Strathfield. She is also the first female principal of this boys’ school. It’s not Lavorato’s first experience in leadership at a boys’ school: she spent some years as a deputy at Waverley College in Sydney’s eastern suburbs. She has also been a principal in two girls’ schools: Domremy College at Five Dock; and Bethany College, Hurstville. Lavorato said leadership appointments should be gender blind, based on merit, talent and ability. “It’s never been an issue when men have been
