Annual Awards

What was your reaction to being nominated for this award?

I was quite shocked and very honoured. It’s wonderful—you work with an association for a long period of time. I looked up yesterday how long it’s been since I joined—I think it was 2002, so over 20 years—and you just keep being part of an organisation and working towards the goals of the organisation. So it’s amazing to feel acknowledged, and we are representing all those amazing people who work with us as part of the team of the Orff Shulwerk Association. It’s really special.

What do you think your legacy would be in relation to education in NSW?

I was one of the people who helped establish the Legal Studies Association, which we are now celebrating on our 31st anniversary. To be able to see that association continue to become very effective in providing support to teachers, and to continually renew ourselves and bring in new people with a whole range of skills to support teachers into the future— to me, that’s something I can look back on and say I had a big part, with many other people, in establishing and continuing to support that association.

As a first time recipient of the PTC NSW Media Award, what does it mean to you?

As I set up on the stage I actually felt really honoured and quite humbled seeing all the amazing educators that had got up to speak before me, and to have my work noticed and recognised like this is really special because I do work with teachers all the time and I am kind of in awe of the work that they do, so for them to recognise me is really lovely.

What do you think your legacy will be in relation to geography teaching in New South Wales?

I hope it’s to inspire people. To inspire them to go for those exciting and interesting things that we can teach about. We’re lucky we have a subject that allows us to teach whatever case studies we like and to not just do the same old same old, but to go out and do something different. To be inspirational, to think that this is geography and it’ll be really interesting for our kids, and that my main message has been be passionate and the kids will love it.

As a volunteer for your association, what motivates you to be in that role?

I think it’s really important to give back to the teaching community, so that teachers who are unsure or are looking beyond their school to grow, have a place to go and ask questions and be able to network with a wider community. Also having professional development for teachers across NSW so that it is really relevant to what we teach in the classroom.