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Gabrielle Milne
Nursery Road
State Special School

Picture
A beginning teacher who is opening up new worlds for students by improving their ability to communicate is a finalist in state teaching awards.
​

Nursery Road State Special School (NRSSS) teacher Gabrielle Milne collaborates with expert practitioners to provide new avenues of communication for her students, who have severe intellectual disabilities and Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Her outstanding commitment to her students and their families is just one of the reasons she is a finalist for the Queensland College of Teachers Excellence in Beginning to Teach TEACHX Award.

Miss Milne, with the help of her school’s speech therapist, introduced the ‘Tell It Again Program’, which helps students who are struggling with literacy.

The program focuses on students’ ability to understand elements of a story, and its benefits were immediate for students. 

“Without communication you’ve got nothing,” Miss Milne said.

“Many of my students never graduate from high school in the traditional sense. They’ll move into other pathways. So, it’s so important in our school that when we’re teaching the curriculum and literacy and numeracy, we’re also teaching the skills that they’re going to need to live as much of an independent life as possible, and that always comes down to communication,” she said.
Miss Milne’s collaborative spirit was also behind her introducing an App to support parental engagement.

“Our students don’t go home and say, ‘Oh Mum, I had a great day and this is what I did and that’s what I did’, so it’s great to be able to show [the parents] what they’re doing through the day and just photos here and there and little work samples. It was really great,” Miss Milne said.
“It’s allowed me to really build such great relationships with the parents too, which is important in any school setting but especially in special education.”

Miss Milne enjoys working at NRSSS and said it was the little wins and watching her students grow that mattered.

She said beginning teachers needed to have passion.

“There’s a lot of work, but it’s so rewarding and it’s easy to put in a lot of work when you feel really passionate about it,” Miss Milne.

Thinking back on her own schooling she said everyone had those one or two teachers who stuck in their mind for the right reasons.  

“I guess I definitely wanted to be that teacher for someone,” she said.

As a fianlist, Miss Milne received $500 for professional development. 
Queensland College of Teachers
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​Toowong Qld 4066
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  • Home
  • TEACHX AWARDS
    • 2019 TEACHX Winners
    • 2019 TEACHX Finalists
    • 2019 TEACHX Nominees >
      • Beginning to Teach Award Nominees 2019
      • OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO SCHOOL COMMUNITY AWARD NOMINEES 2019
      • Excellence in Teaching Award Nominees 2019
      • Innovation in Teaching Award Nominees 2019
      • Excellent Leadership in Teaching and Learning Award Nominees 2019
      • Outstanding Contribution to Teaching Award Nominees 2019
  • Teacher Stories
    • Teaching graduates meet tough standards
    • Rachel Downie
    • The importance of teachers
    • Marsden State High School has the answer to keeping beginning teachers in the classroom
    • Exceptional support for early career teachers in Far North Queensland
    • QBECT
    • 2018 Awards >
      • 2018 Winners
      • 2018 Finalists
      • 2018 Nominees >
        • Excellence in Beginning to Teach Award
        • Excellent Leadership in Teaching and Learning Award
        • Excellence in Teaching Award
        • Outstanding Contribution to Teaching Award
        • Outstanding Contribution to School Community Award
    • 2017 Awards >
      • 2017 Winners
      • 2017finalists
      • 2017 nominees >
        • Excellence in Beginning to Teach
        • Excellent Leadership in Teaching and Learning
        • Excellence in Teaching
        • Outstanding Contribution to Teaching
    • 2016 Awards >
      • Excellence in Beginning to Teach
      • Excellent Leadership in Teaching and Learning
      • Excellence in Teaching
      • Outstanding Contribution to Teaching
    • HAT and LT >
      • Meet the Assessors
      • Ruth Graham
      • Tracey Peden
      • Helen and Dwayne
      • Carly Sopronick
      • Jessica Roberts
      • Jessica Roth
    • OAM >
      • Kathryn George, OAM
      • Keith Graham, OAM
      • Dr Judith Grimes, OAM
      • Michael Goodwin, OAM
      • Steve Parle, OAM
      • Dr Lyn Bishop, OAM
      • Dr Catherine Day, OAM
    • Taryn Gollshewsky
    • Vanuatu
    • NAIDOC >
      • NAIDOC Week 2017
      • NAIDOC Week 2016
    • QLD Day >
      • Bundaberg East State School
      • St Catherine's Catholic College
      • Mornington Island State School
      • Queensland Week 2016
    • ANZAC
  • Anxiety and trauma―an expert’s advice