Our Board

Tara Taylor

Tara is SMTC’s Managing Director.

Tara’s background is in legal practice.  She remains a  Director at legal practice, Sophic Legal, which specialises in commercial law for small and medium size businesses and has other board involvement. 

Tara’s early career was spent at top Australian corporate law firm, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, as a lawyer and senior associate before moving in-house with Westpac as part of their institutional banking team, providing tax and structuring advice.  Tara has a Master of Laws from the University of Sydney and has been admitted to practice in both New South Wales, Australia and New York State, United States.  Tara has been a board member of Inner Sydney Montessori School since 2016 and its board chair since 2017.  She has been a director and the board chair of Sydney Montessori Training Centre since its inception in 2018 and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Andrew Duff

Andrew’s career has covered roles in senior management and as Chairman and director of both ASX Listed and private companies. He has extensive experience in financial, operational, regulatory and governance issues across organisations of various size and complexity.

In addition Andrew has been a Director and Treasurer of Inner Sydney Montessori School for nine years and a director of SMTC since its inception in 2018.

Dale Anthony

Dale Anthony is an educator with over 40 years’ experience that includes both classroom and educational management and leadership roles. She taught French, German and Modern History. 

Dale was a member of the Executive Team at PLC Sydney for over 20 years, serving in the roles of Director of Curriculum, and Head Teacher Learning and Teaching. These roles included responsibility for oversight of the delivery/compliance aspects of NESA curriculum; mentoring new staff and acting as the Principal’s delegate (Teacher Accreditation Authority) to implement the NSW Teaching Standards for the purposes of Teacher Accreditation for all staff.

Karen Bennetts

Karen first became involved with Montessori education in 1993 when her first child began in a Montessori program.  She is a Montessori trained teacher with qualifications spanning early childhood, primary and secondary education.  Karen has been a 6-12 teacher and the founding principal of a Montessori school for ten years.  She was Senior Advisor, Schools at Montessori Australia for 4 years.  Karen is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has almost 20 years of governance experience in a range of organisations including schools, a higher education provider and a hospital.  Karen has a PhD in Montessori leadership and is currently an Auxiliary Trainer for the AMI Montessori School Administrators Certificate Course.  In 2016, Karen was the recipient of a State Fellowship Award from the Australian Council of Educational Leaders for her contribution to the education sector.