Name: Davina Kelly A talented young teacher makes her mark A visual arts teacher from Brisbane was recently chosen as a finalist in Australia’s most prestigious Indigenous art award. Davina Kelly, a visual arts teacher at Southbank Institute, was recently selected as a finalist in the Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award […]
Name: To Sir (and Ma’am), with Love Teachers play a vitally important role in our community. Without teachers we would never know the joy of reading and writing, or the beauty and value of our culture. Some of the very first Aboriginal teachers have blazed a trail for future generations to give the gift of […]
Name: Geoff Holt One school has totally transformed the education outcomes of its Indigenous students. Swan View in Western Australia has the largest concentration of Indigenous people in the metropolitan area. The nearest town, Midland, currently has the fastest growing Indigenous population in the country. And until a few years ago, the Nyoongar students of […]
Name: Dimity Trudgett One year out, this young teacher couldn’t be happier When students at Dubbo Senior College were preparing for the HSC recently, Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE) teacher Dimity Trudgett could well relate to what they were experiencing. After all, it wasn’t so long ago that the 23-year-old was sitting exams […]
Name: Donna Bridge Donna Bridge is an English and art teacher at One Arm Point Remote Community School. One Arm Point is an isolated community about 220 kilometres north of Broome in the Kimberley. The township has a population of 500, and there are 100 students at the school, ranging from kindergarten through to high […]
Name: Mathew Healy Mount Magnet is a small, isolated community 600km north of Perth. The town has one school, Mount Magnet District High School, which has 160 students from Kindergarten through to Year 10. Matthew Healy is the school’s health and physical education teacher. It’s a job that covers a lot more than just T-ball […]
Name: Gloria Dann Part of being Indigenous is being proud of who we are and where we come from. Sadly, many of our children are growing up with no knowledge of their culture or their heritage. But for the students of Djidi Djidi School in Bunbury, Western Australia, this is something that will never happen. […]
Name: Shirley Close Most mothers of six would have their hands full enough without taking on any extra responsibilities. But not Shirley Close. This Butchulla and Goompril woman is the heart and soul behind Garbutt State School in Townsville, Queensland. As well as teaching Years Three, Five and Six, Shirley is also the local Community […]
Name: Anne Clarke For someone who has been doing the same job for the past 21 years, Anne Clarke is refreshingly full of zeal. But it could have something to do with where she works, as Northland Secondary College is certainly not your average school. Located in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Northland SC offers […]
Name: Sarita Lawler Sarita Lawler has been teaching for only 15 weeks, but already she’s been making an impact at Katherine High School in the Northern Territory. After completing her teaching degree at the Queensland University of Technology last year, Sarita found it tough going trying to find a good job in her home state. […]
Name: Paul Woodhead Paul Woodhead has been a favourite teacher at Dubbo West Primary School for the past 15 years. Paul, who got into teaching 25 years ago after winning a scholarship, says he still loves his job after all those years in front of a blackboard. “I love working with kids,” he says. “But […]
Name: Peter Henwood Peter Henwood likes wide open spaces as well as classrooms. He has been a schoolteacher for 25 years, and has spent many of them in remote bush towns and communities. Now he is teaching media and computer studies at Tennant Creek High School, in the heart of the Northern Territory, and he […]
Name: Margie Mills Teaching is one of the most important and challenging professions around and few people understand the pressures many teachers face. After 15 years of teaching physical education, Margie Mills has found that the perfect way to unwind after a hard day’s work is to get down to the ocean and escape into […]
Name: Melanie Pitt Taking the first step in a career in education can be daunting for any young teaching graduate fresh out of university. Melanie Pitt, however, welcomed the challenge of her first teaching position in remote New South Wales, and is now grateful for the unique opportunities it has given her. Melanie began her […]
Name: Jodie Kell Maningrida is a community known for producing top-quality Indigenous music such as the legendary Letterstick Band. Now with the help of teacher Jodie Kell, the great musical tradition of Maningrida is set to continue. Jodie has been teaching Year 11 at Maningrida High School in Arnhem Land for two years. Being a […]
Name: Aunty Honor Cleary In traditional language, ‘yelangi’ means ‘meeting place’. At the Yelangi Pre-school at Indooroopilly in Brisbane, Aboriginal kids have been meeting Aunty Honor Cleary for more than 25 years. Not only does Honor help the “little people”, as she likes to call them, the centre is also a major resource for the […]
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