PR E PA R ATORY S C HO OL
Meet Carol Ray
From Calamity Jane to colouring in, the Caribbean to creative thinking, Years 3/4 Coordinator Carol Ray is a very interesting and
diverse teacher, who brings these very same skills out in her students.
Carol Ray started teaching in the Preparatory
School in 2013, initially as a Year 3 teacher
before moving into Year 4. Carol started her
teaching career at Katanning Primary School,
before travelling overseas, where she taught
at a number of schools in London and then
assisted with setting up a small international
school on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey.
On her return to Perth, Carol took up a
teaching position at Swan Valley Anglican
Community School before accepting the
position of Year 3/4 Coordinator at Guildford
Grammar School.
Carol is married with two children. Her
son, Louis, is at UWA studying Commerce
and is about to head off on a backpacking
adventure around the world just like Carol
and her husband did in their early twenties.
Her daughter, Yasemin is in Year 9 at
Perth College. The other member of the
household is Puss-n-Boots, their beautiful,
but very spoilt cat!
Creative Thinking
Carol has been involved with preparing
teams for competing in creative thinking
competitions for the past eight years. She was
first introduced to these competitions through
her own children’s involvement and has
subsequently worked with different groups of
primary school students as a facilitator. Since
starting at Guildford Grammar Preparatory
School, Carol has worked with two teams
who made it to the state finals for OptiMINDS and one team who received Honours.
For some students, it is very clear what a
big difference this competition and way of
thinking has made to their life.
Weekends
Carol enjoys spending time with her family
on the weekend and spends a lot of time
watching her children play sport and being
a taxi driver! Her son, Louis, has played both
football and cricket each year since he was
in Year 1.
Her daughter, Yasemin, is a kayaker. She
trains on the Swan River three or four times
a week and competes in regular regattas,
both short and long distance. Next year she
will be competing in the National Kayak
Championships at Champion Lakes. She also
plays netball for Perth College in winter.
Her husband is a sailor who competes in Farr
9.2 races most Saturdays in summer. He also
has a yacht charter business in Turkey.
Carol enjoys walking and loves to catch up
with girlfriends from primary school and high
school in Kings Park on a regular basis. She
also loves to read and can easily spend an
hour or two lost in a good book, however
this is generally more of a holiday treat!
Travelling
Carol lived and worked in the United
Kingdom and Turkey for nearly fifteen years
before returning to Perth. She is certainly
well-travelled, with some of her adventures
listed below:
• Carol was a Tour Guide in Europe and
Egypt.
• She spent the millennium in the
Caribbean on a 57ft yacht with her
husband and son.
• She set up a small international school
on the Mediterranean in Turkey, where
she taught for a number of years.
• She regularly visits New Zealand where
she catches up with in-laws.
• She enjoys camping holidays with the
family. A two week adventure to explore
the Ningaloo coastline was a favourite.
• More recently she has travelled to
Vietnam and Kuala Lumpur with
girlfriends to celebrate an important
birthday.
• Another recent holiday this year was to
Bali.
• For the last two years Carol has
accompanied Year 6 students on their
Sydney / Canberra trip.
Some things you might not know
Carol started school in New Guinea. Her
favourite treat from the Tuck Shop was
salted plums. As a young girl Carol loved
having stories read to her. Her favourite
was Snugglepot and Cuddlepie, which her
grandmother used to read to her. Surprisingly
she was not a keen reader in primary school.
When she worked and lived in Katanning,
she was a member of the Dramatic Society.
She appeared in the musical Calamity Jane –
she had the only non-singing part!
Carol loves colouring in. As a child she used
to enter colouring in competitions, which she
cut out of The Sunday Times every week and
regularly won $1.00 or $2.00 for her efforts.
Recently she was given an adult colouring
in book which she is thoroughly enjoying,
even though she doesn’t win any prizes these
days!
Carol feels very privileged to work at
Guildford Grammar School and appreciates
the beauty and history of the school and
the region, which she embraces and tries to
incorporate into units of work. She enjoys
being part of an inclusive community and
enjoys getting to know families as well as the
students in her classroom.
53