Initially commencing her career in Finance, Ms Keren Claassen became a teacher to have more involvement with people, and to have more of an impact earlier in their learning journey. With her new role as Assistant Head of House alongside teaching Mathematics, Ms Claassen strives to build personal connections with more students.

Ms Claassen started her education in Texas and continued studying and working in London. The pursuit of a career in teaching first started during her schooling years for a degree in Finance.

“When I was studying, I was also tutoring Mathematics, and really enjoyed it. I think I just wanted more involvement with people, and to have more of an impact. Finance was well and good when I was young, I was making a lot of money and having fun, but I realised it is all very meaningless. As a teacher, you build more of a personal connection. So, when my children became a bit older, I retrained and became a teacher,” Ms Claassen explained.

Ms Claassen started working as a Mathematics teacher at Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School at the beginning of 2018, and this year, she was able to turn her enthusiasm for her students into a more practical role by taking on the role as Assistant Head of House for Redding.

“It is nice to have more interaction with students that I do not actually see in the classroom and building meaningful connections with them. When teaching, you get to know the students really well, but with this role, I have more exposure to a greater group of students.”

Having two children, Ms Claassen does not find many hours of free time, but when she does, she enjoys the weather by being outdoors: running, playing tennis and swimming.

“Last year, I competed in the Busselton Jetty swim, which was awesome!” she said.