PhD, MEd, BEd (Primary), DipML (Advanced Indonesian)

Reflecting, as an adult, on her childhood, Eblana Visual Arts Teacher, Meg Hayes, now truly appreciates how extraordinary it was. The daughter of two avid travelers, Meg completed periods of her schooling in Scotland and Canada. Family vacations included African safaris, road trips across America, visiting museums and galleries across Europe through to 4WD camping expeditions in outback Australia. Now with two children of her own, Meg acknowledges the hard work and sacrifice of her parents to give her and her older brother such an enchanted start to life.

Growing up in the 90s in suburban Melbourne, Meg felt she had a fairly regular upbringing. However, among her schedule of school, netball and friends, her parents also strived to gift her an appreciation of culture and art, and a worldly perspective. “Dad was a University professor with a penchant for finding teaching opportunities abroad, so we did an incredible amount of travel.” Meg confesses that the older she gets, the more she realises how incredibly lucky she was to experience all of these opportunities. “I can’t believe I complained about missing the odd netball game or birthday party,” Meg laughs. “But I did!”

Art and culture remained a prominent feature of Meg’s life throughout her schooling. “Art was always my favourite subject, and outside of school, some of my earliest and best memories are of hours spent crafting with mum and filling our home with my ‘works of art’. Now being a mum of two young children myself, I wonder how she always showed so much enthusiasm for displaying my things all over the house!”

Meg knew from an early age she wanted to be a primary school teacher. “Growing up, I would babysit my younger cousins and neighbours, and help in my local after-school-care program. My dad, being a Professor, also played an important role in my interest in education as a career.” After graduating, Meg took a page from her father’s book and headed straight overseas to teach in the United Kingdom for a year.

Meg joined Mentone Grammar in 2006 as a Year 3 classroom teacher. “I honestly assumed I would stay at the school for a few years, but here I am all these years later simply because I love working here. I have colleagues I call some of my closest friends, engaged and enthusiastic students and a warm and welcoming community.” During her time, Meg worked across Eblana teaching Foundation and Year 2, Physical Education, Indonesian and now Visual Arts. “The Visual Arts classroom is my happy place and I really do feel as though I have the dream job. I get to come to a large, light-filled and well-resourced art space each day and spend my time simply creating with children and fostering in them a love of the arts.”

Since joining Mentone Grammar, Meg has made a significant contribution to the field of education research, completing her Master of Education (Research) and a PhD in creative arts education. She has also published her research in peer-reviewed journals, presented at education conferences in Australia and internationally and has lectured in creative arts education at Australian Catholic University.

Outside of work, Meg draws her energy and happiness from her two children, her husband Matt (who is also a teacher) and her football team (the Sydney Swans). And she still plays netball – although these days she is happy to miss a game if travel opportunities arise!

Meg has this advice for students, “As cliché as it sounds, follow your dreams and do what feels right for you. I’ve always known that being in a primary classroom, particularly in a Visual Arts role, and interacting daily with young people is what makes me happy – and at the end of the day, if you know what kind of work makes you happy and you have the opportunity to do it, then that’s a no brainer.”

 By Deborah Callahan