Mark Reeves Print
Mark Reeves - Principal

Mark Reeves has always had a keen interest in and passion for leadership, physical and outdoor education and health and wellbeing which is reflected in his qualifications including a BA specialising in Recreation, Post Graduate degree in Organisational Change and Graduate Diploma in Education. He has certification in Outdoor Pursuits from Plas-Y-Brennin in North Wales in the UK.

He has held a range of positions including Director of Outdoor Education at St Michael’s St Kilda, and Director of Marshmead Residential Year Nine School at MLC.

In 2000 he was appointed as the foundation principal of the Alpine School in Dinner Plain. The school was an initiative of the Kennett Government which aimed to offer a residential program for Year 9 students at government schools where students could experience the multiple challenges of developing leadership skills, their own personal development and outdoor education.

Under Mark's leadership the School for Student Leadership has grown from a single campus at Dinner Plain, in Victoria's high country, to a three-campus school with the addition of the Snowy River Campus at Marlo and the Gnurad Gundidj Campus at Glenormiston in Victoria's Western District. It is not only unique to the state but is the only kind of its type in government schools in Australia. In its early days the single campus of the Alpine School provided its life-enhancing - and life-changing - program to 180 Year 9 students from 32 Government schools each year; The program is now offered to 540 students from 96 schools and he has plans for more campuses! Unlike the essentially homogeneous intake at private schools, the SSL mixes teams from 8 different schools each term, boys and girls, in equal numbers from metropolitan Melbourne and rural Victoria, teams from different social classes, ethnic and religious backgrounds. Under Mark’s guardianship, the school has achieved exceptional results in terms of student engagement and well-being consistently scoring at or above the 95th percentile for this aspect in annual reports.

Mark was awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2010 to study approaches to adolescent experiences of a ‘Rite of Passage’ in contemporary education. His fellowship involved studying programs in Calgary, Vancouver and Alberta. In his application he explained his rationale for attempting to become as informed as possible to assist his students in their personal ‘Rite of passage’, a concept which is intrinsically interwoven with wellbeing and self-esteem:

A healthy and considered education system is at the core of social wellness. As future custodians of the country and planet, our young people have a right to an education system that is the best it can be. By furthering and deepening our understanding of this complex educational area, I will be able to directly influence my school and education in the state through the profile of my school. The ripple effects of deepening a core moral purpose to middle years education around rites of passage could be profound as schools and systems scramble for meaning, engagement and content for adolescent students.

Right from the start, Mark had the foresight to embed his ideas in research, forming a valuable partnership with Monash University Gippsland that has been extremely productive and has lasted for more than 10 years. Mark’s community involvement also reflects his passion for the outdoors and the environment. He is a volunteer Fire Fighter (Lieutenant) with the CFA Victoria: Chaired the Dinner Plain Community Centre. He coached hockey for Orbost and East Gippsland, is a volunteer for Marlo Coast Guard and is on the Curlip Paddle Steamer committee.



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