For the last three years, she has taught the school’s newest “teeny, tiny poppets” as she puts it, but her teaching career spans back to 2012.
To her, becoming a teacher was never so much a decision as it was a certainty.
“The idea of shaping the small people that will ultimately run our country one day,” she said.
And it was that simple desire that led her into the classroom.
Mrs G plans and delivers the curriculum for her Preppies, but with five- and-six-year-olds, that rarely looks like pages of a workbook.
“Being so young, they learn through lots of experiences and play,” she said.
She works to transform her classroom into an area for play and activities that makes learning easy for them.
With it being these kids’ first year at school, Mrs G says from day one she is there to watch over and guide them along the way.
And that sense of care is matched with her genuine delight in the age group.
“It’s fun, they’re funny,” she said.
“When they’re five and six the world still very much revolves around them.”
Seeing families send sibling after sibling through the school gate is what stands out to Mrs G, having now taught one third of the students at the school.
But it’s the transformation that usually unfolds around the end of term three that stands out as her favourite part of the job.
“Preps arrive with very little academic knowledge and by the end of term three, they’ve come remarkably far,” she said.
The ‘100 days of school’ milestone has been, and always will be, a highlight for Mrs G.
She has seen students starting the year barely knowing their name who can now read, write, add and subtract.
Each year, Mrs G organises activities around the number 100 to celebrate — this year she got 100 balloons, a decision she has since second guessed.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I’ve still got some in my classroom,” she said with a laugh.
It’s a fitting image for Mrs G’s classroom, a little chaotic, a lot of fun and entirely hers.
By Brynne Timewell
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