The North Central LLEN has a small, committed team working across our four key focus areas:
They are:
- Solid Foundation,
- Resilient Middle Years
- Strong Careers and Pathways, and
- Confident Youth Voice
They are:
Jane Hosking
Executive Officer
A qualified Occupational Therapist, Jane has over two decades of experience in community development and supporting families and children across the Loddon Mallee region through a variety of roles.
Joining the North Central LLEN in 2018, initially as the Manager of the Strong Families Strong Children Loddon program, Jane took on the role of Executive Officer later that year and feels privileged to work for an organisation where she gets to focus on the needs of children, young people and their families.
Jane lives at Oakvale near Quambatook with her husband and four daughters, and in her spare time she enjoys netball, tennis, supporting a range of local community organisations, and spending time with family and friends.
Executive Officer
A qualified Occupational Therapist, Jane has over two decades of experience in community development and supporting families and children across the Loddon Mallee region through a variety of roles.
Joining the North Central LLEN in 2018, initially as the Manager of the Strong Families Strong Children Loddon program, Jane took on the role of Executive Officer later that year and feels privileged to work for an organisation where she gets to focus on the needs of children, young people and their families.
Jane lives at Oakvale near Quambatook with her husband and four daughters, and in her spare time she enjoys netball, tennis, supporting a range of local community organisations, and spending time with family and friends.
Julie Slater Communications & Engagement Julie lives with her husband and three teenage boys at Corack East within the heart of the Buloke Shire where they operate a mixed cropping and livestock enterprise. Julie has a BA (Public Relations) from RMIT and more than two decades of experience working in communications and engagement, strategic planning, community development and leadership. She loves working with the North Central LLEN as she is passionate about ensuring all children have access to the opportunities and resources they need to follow their dreams in education and life regardless of where they live and their socio-economic background. |
Julie Roberts
Office Manager Julie lives near Lake Wooroonook with her husband and two children, where they operate an agribusiness that contracts services to the farming community. Currently the Office Manager at the NCLLEN, Julie has had a myriad of former roles including retail management, employment services and office administration. She is passionate about rural communities - particularly Charlton where she was born and still lives) and volunteers as the Treasurer on a range of community committees. |
Strong Families Strong Children
Susie Hawke
Solid Foundations Manager Strong Families Strong Children Loddon Project Facilitator Susie is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist, graduating from La Trobe University (Lincoln School of Health Sciences) in 1990 with a Bachelor of Applied Science – Speech Pathology. She has worked as a Speech Pathologist, Early Childhood Intervention Worker and Public Servant in a variety of organisations located across rural and regional Victoria. She has also worked in rural hospitals, community health settings, schools, disability organisations and in the Department of Education and Training. Susie has extensive experience in the areas of early childhood development; speech, language and communication disorders; literacy development; community development projects; community partnership initiatives; and policy and program development. She is passionate about making sure every child has the opportunity to develop into the best they can be and enjoys working with children, supporting their development and supporting families to learn how important they are in helping their child learn and grow. Her first job was as a Kitchen Hand and House Maid at the Barham Hotel. |
Abby Mulquiny
Early Years Facilitator Strong Families Strong Children Buloke Abby grew up on a farm, choosing to study close by and then returning to her community with gained knowledge, experience and a tertiary education. She has a Bachelor of Arts with a double major in Sociology, Politics & Culture And History and a Diploma of Secondary Education: Humanities (Careers) & History from La Trobe Bendigo. She taught in Secondary Education for 5 Years, has been a FLO Coordinator, Active After School Care, ESL VCAL Coordinator, and Careers Coordinator, finding her passion in Careers Teaching and joining the NCLLEN as a MIPs Coordinator from 2014 - 2019. Abby's passion is to empower youth, families, individuals to make the most out of rural opportunities - to create sustainable successful activities and services of support to ensure everyone in the community feels connected. "I love everything about rural communities and want to help keep them alive and enjoyable for all" Her favourite hobby is to volunteer as she enjoys meeting new people and connecting and she is passionate about making literacy fun for children and families and supporting all aspects of child development so that they can be happy and confident in themselves and their community. |
Resilient Middle Years
Jerri Nelson
Strong Youth, Strong Communities
Jerri has a breadth of experience having worked in education and training, community development, human resource, business management, community health and local government. Over the last 35 years Jerri has lived and worked in rural communities and is linked to the agriculture industry through family ties to a 5th generation mixed farming enterprise.
She is passionate about ensuring that decisions which impact on children, young people and rural communities are influenced by those who will be most affected and based on evidence.
Jerri’s personal interests include fitness activities, travel and the extended family. In an ideal world, having time to read the newspapers from cover to cover every weekend while drinking multiple Café latte`s would make her very happy!
Strong Youth, Strong Communities
Jerri has a breadth of experience having worked in education and training, community development, human resource, business management, community health and local government. Over the last 35 years Jerri has lived and worked in rural communities and is linked to the agriculture industry through family ties to a 5th generation mixed farming enterprise.
She is passionate about ensuring that decisions which impact on children, young people and rural communities are influenced by those who will be most affected and based on evidence.
Jerri’s personal interests include fitness activities, travel and the extended family. In an ideal world, having time to read the newspapers from cover to cover every weekend while drinking multiple Café latte`s would make her very happy!
Careers and Pathways
Mary-Ann Sait
Structured Workplace Learning (SWL) Broader Horizons ENGAGE Buloke Mary-Ann has had a very diverse working life including Small Business Ownership, Clothing Manufacturing, Education Support, Customer Service, Finance, Job Network & Group Training, Hospitality, Retail, and Administration. This wealth of experience is invaluable in her role of supporting students to find and participate in work placements as part of their VCAL studies and her role with the Broader Horizons program. Mary-Ann enjoy assisting young people to explore and find their area of interest through hands-on industry experiences. She is constantly amazed at the support local employers give to our young people and the generosity of local business willing to give up their time and knowledge to provide young people with industry experience to assist them in their career pathway. Through her role with the ENGAGE Buloke program, Mary-Ann enjoys working with young people to facilitate opportunities for them to be more actively involved in their communities, and to ensure their voices are heard and listened to. |
Sue Clay
Careers Education Program Broader Horizons Originally from Bendigo, Sue now lives at St Arnaud with her young family. She has qualifications in Business, HR and Marketing which she put to good use with DON KRC at Castlemaine before deciding to complete a Dip Ed so she could share her skills with others. Her teaching career took her across regional Victoria with time at McAuley College (Dooboobetic, Braemar College (Woodend), Australian Technical College (Bendigo), and Charlton College where she predominantly taught Business subjects, VCAL and Careers. Over the last five years Sue has been a Careers Development Practitioner with the North Central LLEN working with students in Years 10-12 at St Arnaud College, Donald High School, and Charlton College. She also has a Graduate Certificate in Career Education which is a great resource when working with students to explore their Careers and Pathways. In her spare time Sue enjoys camping, walking the dog with the family, and holidaying at the beach. |
Barb Bear
Careers Education Program, MATES Mentoring & Engage Buloke Barb was a secondary English teacher for many years and has worked in adult education, presenting vocational training and has taught English for short periods of time in China and Laos. She completed a Graduate Certificate in Career Counselling which lead to her current position at the North Central LLEN as a Career Practitioner and Project officer. Living on a sheep and cropping farm between Boort and Pyramid Hill, with two adult children who live in Melbourne, Barb enjoys travelling, being outdoors, getting people together and most of all, supporting young people to take up opportunities and fulfil their potential. Barb meets with young people in schools to discuss their Career plans, identifying their strengths, interests, exploring different pathways and career options. Currently working at Pyramid Hill College, Barb also coordinates the Pyramid Hill MATES mentoring program for Yr 9 & 10 students and assists with coordinating the Buloke ENGAGE! program at the North Central LLEN. |
Angela Poxon
Careers Education Program Angela graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Science and Diploma in Education and has taught at Boort District School for 25 years, predominately in Maths and Science. She has always been passionate about helping and inspiring young people and has additional qualifications Graduate Diploma in Adolescent Health and Welfare and a Graduate Certificate in Career Development to increase her knowledge and skill set. Angela is heavily involved in numerous sporting clubs in the local community and in particular hockey at an Association and state level. This has enabled her to interact with many of the young people in each school on a different front. She loves being on the journey of discovery with the students in the schools and following up on their pathway through destination tracking and is always amazed at how flexible, resilient and adaptable our young people are and how they strive to succeed. |
FLO and L2P
Tanya Watts
Flexible Learning Options (FLO) Program Manager Tanya has been coordinating the FLO (Flexible Learning Options) program at Charlton College for the North Central Principal’s Cluster since 2016. The FLO program works with the NCLLEN and Buloke Loddon L2P program to assist vulnerable young people to stay engaged with their education. She has had an interesting journey to get where she is today. Originally a Queenslander, Tanya studied performing arts at James Cook University in Townsville before moving to Melbourne to follow her dream of working in theatre. While pursuing theatre work in Melbourne she also worked in numerous hospitality jobs, was a subcontractor courier for Kmart, and her most unusual job was working for a small educational incursion business that visited schools with a mobile planetarium. After graduating university for the second time she left the big smoke in 2009 and accepted a primary teaching job in Navarre, before taking a year off in 201 and working at McCallum Disability services in St. Arnaud supporting residents in respite care. By this time Tanya never imagined returning to regular classroom teaching but saw an advertisement for the FLO position and thought she'd give education another chance and is so glad I did. "Over the years I have had the privilege of supporting numerous young people in our district to stay connected with their education. To say I love my job is an understatement. I’m just glad it found me." |
Fiona Hall
Flexible learning options (FLO) teacher Growing up in QLD, Fiona moved to Bendigo in 1999 to complete a Bachelor Degree in Outdoor Education and Diploma Education at Latrobe University. Fiona has 17 years of teaching experience in various local schools in the Buloke and Loddon Shires. She has taught a variety of subjects including P.E, Food Technology, English, Humanities, VCAL and Outdoor Education. She is a mother of three and helps her husband with the running the family farm at Wychitella. Fiona’s personal interests include developing and being involved in the local theatre production company, BBAC productions. She also loves family holidays, playing games - especially ‘Dutch Blitz’. Fiona started teaching in the FLO program in 2020 and loves the support, diversity and flexibility that FLO provides her students. She loves working with a great team of staff from the North Central LLEN. 
Peter Aurisch
Flexible Learning Options (FLO) Program, Buloke Loddon L2P Program Peter is the project coordinator for the TAC L2P program within the Buloke and Loddon shires and he also works with the Charlton College FLO Program. Peter’s passionate about helping people learn new skills and develop existing ones. He gets great enjoyment when people have an idea and work towards making it a reality. The real fun begins when that idea is then pushed in complexity to produce something new. Peter studied Visual Arts at La Trobe University and has worked a wide variety of jobs in his time. Everything ranging from dog training to hospitality, from factory work to construction in the NT and WA outback, as well as Sand Blasting. Even one that involved putting holes in kitchen sinks. |
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NCLLEN acknowledges the traditional custodians of this land: for many centuries they have met and cared for
children and young people on the lands on which we now work.
children and young people on the lands on which we now work.