This week, the SCEA Head Office celebrated the finale for Mr Sid Rajanyagam, who completed his time at SCEA with a morning tea to remember the 13 years of his involvement across our organisation.
Former line manager Mr Martin Bent was on hand, along with previous Payroll lead Mrs Belinda Godfrey and other former staff who paid tribute to Sid and his positive influence on the Human Resources department of SCEA and the payroll functions carried out by his team each fortnight.
When reminiscing about the many happy memories that he has enjoyed at SCEA, Sid reflected this week:
“The real privilege that I enjoyed in my role was hearing from new employees in SCEA. Their testimonies, their stories of how God had moved in their lives and the stirring that had brought them to work in SCEA. God moves in all of our lives in different ways, but it is amazing to observe the many facets of our faith that we get to see in our roles across SCEA.”
When Sid began, there were about 3,000 students across SCEA schools. In 2025, we are over the 5,000 mark, and the support structures to enable SCEA schools to accommodate this massive growth are now being put into place. The new ‘People’ and ‘Payroll’ teams are just part of this plan to serve our staff more comprehensively.
“I was very fortunate to work with professionals – both in leadership and in operational positions,” said Sid this week.
“For nine years, the team remained quite constant. During some times of change or uncertainty, we had a team that continually delivered and was reliable. I am very thankful for their contributions to the SCEA journey and to my time here at the SCEA Head Office.”
Over the past 12 years, Sid has been instrumental in ensuring that Enterprise Agreements for SCEA have been managed correctly. He has also spent hours on staff inductions, employee relations matters and industrial negotiations.
“I have loved the growth of Northshore – from an idea, to Stuart Chisholm’s vision of a beacon for the community in the north, and now a fully fledged K-12 school. It has been very impressive to observe. The work that was undertaken by Paul Beacham and the team at Southern Hills to bring the school back to life after some severe challenges – these are the moments that you remember. The arrival of Brett Costin and Michelle Schouten marks a new era of leadership in our schools, and I look forward to observing SCEA’s progress from a distance.”
In recent times, the assistance of the external Payroll support company Dulili (dulilisolutions.com) and the creation of the Chief Operating Officer position (held by Mr Nick Wood) have helped to demonstrate how the two new teams can serve our staff further.
“With Dulili helping us with the transformation of the independent Payroll Department, and with Nick opening up the processes and really assisting with our business efficiencies, I feel like SCEA is poised to grow and become more productive for its employees.”
A quick scan through the archives demonstrates the multi-faceted model that Sid is for the marketing department, from the deal-making, contract-signing magnate to the Santa hat-wearing jester who tells us when our holiday payments are scheduled.
Keep a lookout for Sid at the next Celebration Day in January 2026, when he has promised to pop by and say hello to the SCEA faithful and join in on a worship song or two to celebrate God’s goodness over many years in our schools and the Head Office!
