Susan Just was born in Brisbane, Queensland. In addition to a Bachelor of Arts and a Diploma of Education from the University of Queensland, she also holds a Master of Educational Administration (University of New England) and in 2009 completed an Advanced Management Course at Harvard University.

She has been working as an educator for over 30 years. Beginning her teaching career in government schools in Queensland, Susan went on to gain extensive teaching and leadership experience in the independent school sector in Australia; in addition to her current role, she has been the Principal of three independent girls’ schools in Queensland and Canberra.

Susan’s strong area of interest is in curriculum and looking forward to the future education needs of girls. Since joining Lauriston in 2010 she has focused on advancing the School’s STEM program from Kindergarten to Year 12. In 2014 she achieved an Australian first by establishing the FabLearn Lab in collaboration with the Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education.

She has spent significant time reviewing and enhancing the School’s signature Howqua program for Year 9 students and further strengthening academic programs to provide students with a strong foundation for Years 10–12. In 2020, Susan also oversaw the introduction of a new micro-credentialling program which
provides students with ‘digital badges’ that showcase skills, knowledge, capabilities or experience beyond their ATAR study score.

Student welfare and wellbeing has been another area where Susan has overseen significant change, with strong support provided to Year 9 students during their Howqua year, and a range of targeted wellbeing and resilience programs offered from Kindergarten to Year 12. Susan has also focused on further developing the already strong relationships Lauriston has with its community, encouraging feedback from parents, staff, students and alumnae.

Throughout her time at Lauriston, Susan has worked with School Council to develop a comprehensive 10-year Masterplan to support the School’s aspiration to grow the breadth of its educational and experiential learning programs and provide world-class facilities for sport, health, music and the arts. Work on the first phase of the Masterplan – developing a new Sports, Health and Wellbeing Precinct, unifying the Junior School, and creating an Early Learning Centre at Blairholme – commenced in late 2019. Work on the Huntingtower Road campus is expected to be completed by the end of Term 1, 2022.