Introducing Our Committee – Claire Hales

Claire Hales (Barrett-Lennard 1996)

I attended Santa Maria College as a boarder from 1992 to 1996. My family still farms in Beverley, but I live in Perth these days.

I went straight to university after school, to study a Bachelor of Education in Primary Teaching at Edith Cowan University, Churchlands. My first teaching job was at St Mary’s School, Donnybrook, and I spent my first year of work madly saving to travel overseas the following year. I traveled to the UK and Europe, teaching in London to help fund my adventures.

Once I returned to Australia, I continued to teach in the South West of WA, then the Goldfields, before moving with my fiancé to Sydney for his work.

I married Ross Hales, originally a Boyup Brook lad, in 2008 and we returned to live and work in Perth in 2011. We have three boys, the eldest is nearly ten and our youngest is now two. They are completely gorgeous and keep life busy. I am no longer teaching in the classroom, rather, I am a full-time domestic goddess, tending to the needs of my family and the household!

A group of my Santa Maria boarding girlfriends went to Koh Samui to celebrate our 40^th birthdays last year and we can’t quite believe where the time has gone since we were at school! 

I enjoy contributing to the SMC OGA committee, as it is something for myself that I enjoy and feel fulfilled by. It is lovely to still have a great reason to be connected to Santa Maria College via the OGA committee and give back to the school that has given me so much.