Staff Story

As both the Sports Administrator for Melbourne Grammar and a Boarding Tutor for Year 12 students, I’ve come to see that it’s relationships that matter at Melbourne Grammar School. The connections between staff, students, and everyone else across the community are what make our School different.

I started working as a Boarding Tutor almost 10 years ago, supporting our boarders in Year 9. Now that I’m working with boarders who are moving into adulthood, I appreciate the different needs they have in this phase of their lives. The conversations we have are more mature. I’m able to be someone who offers academic direction as well as encouragement to keep taking advantage of all the opportunities on offer here, even when life gets particularly busy.

My children have grown up around boarders, and my wife, Claire, is also a big part of the community—she’s made 61 birthday cakes for boarders over our time here. Many of the boarders have younger siblings back home, and they’re all fantastic with my kids. One of the Year 12 students recently gave my son his first cricket bat. I have so much pride in the boarding house, and I think we all feel that we’re part of an extended family.

My role as Sports Administrator connects me to students and staff across the Senior School, Wadhurst, and Grimwade House. I manage everything from team allocation to transport and training, working closely with the Heads of Sport and acting as a liaison point for our APS Sport competition. Some of the students I’ve worked with have gone onto professional roles in sport, and I’ve even shared the field with them in my role as an AFL boundary umpire, which I retired from after 16 years and 309 matches. I’m so grateful for the flexibility the School offered me to be able to continue doing this alongside my other responsibilities.

What I’m most proud of are the connections I’ve built with boarders during my time at the School. I’m still in touch with dozens of them, even though they’ve now graduated. On a recent trip to Singapore, I even caught up with one of our Old Melburnians who now lives over there.

I get a huge amount of satisfaction from both of my roles. As a Sports Administrator I’m part of the life of the School, and as a Boarding Tutor I get to have an even greater connection with students and see how they progress during their time with us.

Shane Thiele holds a Bachelor of Exercise and Sports Science from the University of South Australia, and a Bachelor of Education, specialising in Middle School years, from Flinders University. 

After working at several independent schools in South Australia, Shane moved to Melbourne at the start of 2013, and joined Melbourne Grammar School in 2014. 

In addition to his Sport Administrator role, Shane has been a boarding tutor in Perry House since 2016.