President
Mat Grining
Mat Grining was elected as President of the Tasmanian Principals Association, commencing the position in January of 2023, following 7 years on the TPA state executive as a secondary school representative.
Mat has taught from kinder through to year ten in public education across 20 years in north western Tasmania. His leadership experiences in Tasmanian education include time in curriculum and assessment support, and substantive principalships in primary and K-12 dual campus schools during times of school amalgamations and major infrastructure projects.
During the principalship, Mat has represented and advocated for his colleagues through principal advisory groups and curriculum working groups with state and federal departments.
Given Tasmania’s unique geography, Mat has a particular interest in ensuring that irrespective of the context of schools around the state, that all school leaders feel connected and supported through collegial networks like the TPA. Other professional interests include growing the capacity of our aspiring leaders, contemporary educational design, continuing to prioritise the wellbeing of our school leaders and raising the profile of the principalship across the broader community by capitalising on school and community partnerships.
Executive Member, South Secondary Principal
Vice President Secondary
Joel Doyle, Principal, Rose Bay High School
Joel Doyle is the current Vice President – Secondary for the Tasmanian Principal Association. He has held this role for the past 6 years and has been a member of the TPA Executive for the past 10 years.
Joel has a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology) and a Bachelor of Teaching (Middle School). The majority of Joel’s teaching has been in a High School context. Joel has held Principal roles in both primary and secondary sectors that have varied in socio-economic demographics.
Joel is a proud advocate of public education and has represented the principal voice on many representative groups including the Principal Advisory Group. Joel’s passion stems from ensuring the preconditions are in place for all schools to allow equity in education, allowing all student to achieve. Recently, Joel was seconded to the External School Review as ‘Chair Reviewer’. This opportunity provided him with a rich understanding of the varying and diverse contexts respective schools face. This learning has provided Joel with a rich understanding on the challenges and strengths existing across education in Tasmania.
Executive Member, South Primary Principal
Vice President Primary/South Branch President
Monique Carter, Principal, Lansdowne Crescent Primary School
Monique Carter is the current TPA Southern Branch President and current Principal of Lansdowne Crescent Primary School in West Hobart in the south of Tasmania.
Monique is a passionate early childhood teacher at heart who believes in the importance of giving all students the best start in their education by ensuring they are engaged, have voice and agency, feel excited by learning and that we honour and foster their curiosity and wonder. Monique has taught in primary schools and in a variety of roles across the north and south of the state, beginning her career at Rocherlea Primary School in Launceston in 1991. Monique’s leadership experiences include roles in inclusive support, middle tier leadership and substantive principalships in southern Tasmania.
Throughout her leadership Monique has contributed to the public education system through representation on a variety of advisory groups, system working parties and collegial learning networks. Monique has been involved in significant professional learning throughout her career, including undertaking a Hardie Fellowship to Project Zero at Harvard University in 2015. The learning from Harvard has inspired a continual interest in pedagogy that ensures all students are engaged and active in their learning and are supported to develop critical and creative thinking. Monique is an ardent advocate for public education and for the rights for all children to access the highest quality education to ensure they achieve their best possible life outcomes.
Executive Member, North Secondary Principal
North Branch President
Rob Fleming, Principal, Queechy High School
Rob has been the Northern Branch President since 2019 supporting the growth and professional learning of Principals across the Northern region during this time.
Rob is a passionate advocate for public education having led school communities in the Primary, Secondary and Senior Secondary areas. His leadership journey began 35 years ago on the West Coast, an area of Tasmania he still holds close to his heart, holding a leadership position within the first few years of his career.
Rob has had extensive experience leading school communities with high proportions of students impacted by trauma, poverty and educational disadvantage. His personal ethos of “everyone can learn” pervades his leadership and helps create strong opportunities for capacity building and personal growth in the staff he leads.
Rob models the enjoyment of leadership to all and is committed to enhancing the pipeline for leadership, actively encouraging and supporting young and aspiring leaders to step into school leadership roles.
Mark Gleeson, Principal, Cressy District School
Mark was elected to the TPA executive in 2025. He has taught across K-12 for the past 25 years in and around the Northern Midlands and Launceston, working as a teacher, AST and AP at Campbell Town, Cressy, Kings Meadows, Exeter and Launceston College, before starting as Principal at Cressy in 2023. The vast majority of Mark’s career has been in a District High School setting, a context that he genuinely loves.
Mark has also had system leadership experience as the Northern PEO for the Year 11-12 extension project in 2018 and has represented DECYP on several occasions on different committees and working groups.
A proud public educator and advocate, Mark has great belief and trust in young people and the teams that he leads, leading from a “culture first” mindset.
Mark has a special interest in STEM/STEAM education, starting the STEAM NGN project at Launceston College in 2016-17. He is also actively involved in supporting entrepreneurial education in schools through Young Change Agents (YCA), helping to bring YCAs national conference to Launceston in 2024 and representing Tasmania at the 2023 conference in South Australia. He also championed the very first Illuminate Education Week for six Northern Midlands primary schools in 2024 that had a focus on design thinking and community-based problem solving.
Executive Member, North West Primary Principal
North West Branch President
Georgia Perry, Principal, Hillcrest Primary School
Executive Member, North West Secondary Principal
Sarah-Jane Murphy, Principal, North West Support School
Sarah-Jane was elected to the TPA executive in 2023.
Sarah-Jane has taught across K-6, on the North West Coast, spending 16 years of her 26 years in public education, working in inclusive and special education. She has held the roles of Special Education Advisor and Autism Consultant, along with teaching and leading in the Early Childhood Intervention Service and North West Support School, whereby she holds her current principalship.
Sarah-Jane is passionate about supporting children to reach their full potential by implementing structured ,differentiated and inclusive educational practices and has lead a broad range of Professional Learning with school teams to build capacity and improve educational access for students with disabilities.
Sarah-Jane has actively contributed to a number of state and national advisory groups, advocating strongly that every student, regardless of their individual needs and challenges, is granted the essential support and accommodations required to access and participate in both educational settings and the broader local community.
Executive Member AP, Primary
Ben Gofton, Assistant Principal, Tasmanian eSchool
Executive Member AP, Secondary
Sam Wells, Assistant Principal, Parklands High School
Executive Member, General Member
Ted Barrance, Principal, East Derwent Primary School
With a career spanning several years in various educational roles, Ted has developed a keen insight into the challenges and opportunities within the K-12 spectrum. His leadership at East Derwent Primary School is characterized by a holistic view of education, one that encompasses academic achievement, social-emotional learning, and cultural competence. As a leader, Ted has consistently advocated for inclusive education, ensuring that every student, regardless of background, has access to high-quality learning experiences.
Serving as the Vice President of the Tasmanian Principals Association (TPA) his role involves advocating for the interests of principals and educators across Tasmania, contributing to the advancement of high-quality education throughout the state. In addition to his responsibilities with the TPA, Ted represents the association at the National Advisory Council (NAC) of the Australian Government Primary Principals Association (AGPPA) and the Australian Primary Principals Association (APPA). Ted’s participation in AGPPA and APPA meetings is a testament to his dedication to the broader educational landscape. He has had the opportunity to interact with Federal Education Ministers and other key stakeholders, discussing various educational policies and strategies that impact primary school principals and their communities.
Ted's efforts to collaborate with fellow educators and policymakers ensure that the voices of Tasmanian principals are heard at both state and national levels, fostering a collaborative environment that benefits students and educators alike.
Executive Member, General Member
Maree Pinnington, External School Review Leader, Department of Education
Executive Member, General Member
Vicki Mackrill, Principal, Launceston College
Vicki has been a member of the Tasmanian Principals Association since 2015 and the Executive Member, and Senior Secondary representative since 2019.
Vicki is currently the Principal of Launceston College a year’s 11/12 College with an enrolment of approximately 1500 students. Vicki has been fortunate to have had 40 years working with the Department and has had leadership roles in Curriculum, (Kindergarten Consultant), HR Management, and all levels of educational leadership AST, AP and Principal across all sectors. Vicki’s experience extends across small and large urban schools, district high schools and semi-rural schools. Vicki has leadership experience in high ENI schools for over 16 years, is the published author in Positive Behaviour Management and member of the International Association of Philosophy for Children.
