Shared Director of Education Services

Our new Education leadership team, Steve Cowley and Mark Foster

Seventh-day Adventist Schools (Western Australia) Ltd (SDASWA) and Seventh-day Adventist Schools (South Australia) Ltd (SDASSA) are pleased to announce that they have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to share the services and expertise of the South Australian Director of Education, Steve Cowley.  

This arrangement will commence 1 March 2023, with the allocation of his time being 60% towards SA and 40% focused upon WA. With a schedule of ongoing reviews, the MoU of educational services will continue through to the end of 2025.  

After receiving approval and perspective from the WA Conference’s Executive Committee, the SDASWA Board considered at length and voted unanimously to support this proposal recognising the unique local WA context and Mr Cowley’s leadership ability and governance experience.  The Officers (President, Secretary and CFO) of both Conferences and Mr Cowley are confident that this arrangement will be mutually beneficial.   

We note that other Conferences in Australia have entered into a similar kind of arrangement.  A particular strength of this agreement is the provision of local WA head office education staffing, including an Associate Education Director (full-time), Curriculum Officer (part-time), IT, HR, Payroll, Finance, and Administrative Assistant, which is an excellent step towards assuring a positive outcome.  Throughout the term of the MoU, there is provision for key project personnel from South Australia to be utilised in their area of expertise in WA, and key leadership training opportunities in SA may be made available to WA staff for their upskilling and leadership development.   

We ask that you bless this undertaking with your prayers and support this partnership as we work to further Adventist ethos through education in Australia.