Georgia Anderson

Gladstone State High School

An inspirational Gladstone teacher has been nominated for an Excellence in Teaching Award after just one full year of teaching, due to her powerful rapport with students, outstanding professionalism and determination to ensure all children succeed.

After completing a few contracts working with special needs students, Gladstone State High School Teacher Georgia Anderson spent her first year teaching in the special education unit and now has a Core Year 7 class, as well as teaching Mathematics and Science to Years 7 and 8 pupils.

This year she has been nominated for a Queensland College of Teachers (QCT) Excellence in Beginning to Teach Award.

“I was inspired by a few teachers that I had in primary school who were amazing, who cared for you and taught you the skills that you needed to learn,” Georgia says.

I just really loved learning all the time— I never wanted to stop.

She says she wouldn’t swap her first year of teaching in the special education unit “for anything”.

“It was the most powerful experience. It was my first year so I was jumping in the deep end straight away—going from a primary school-based university degree straight away to special needs,” Georgia says.

“They just want to learn and be accepted for who they are and they want to have exactly the same experience as every other child has, they just have a few little obstacles they’ve got to get around to do that. So it was really awesome having those kids come from facing challenges, to be able to graduate with their QCAs at the end of the year. You find it very rewarding to see them have that success in the classroom.”

Georgia is constantly working on improving, actively seeking and reflecting on feedback provided through the school’s Early Years Teacher program and by working with a Master Teacher. She has even nominated her classroom as a training classroom for teaching profilers.
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“It’s a non-critical, non-confrontational way of getting that feedback and I just think it’s awesome to be able to have someone with a totally different background and totally different teaching style come in and give me those tips so that I can do what I am doing better,” she says.

“I just want to keep getting better and I want to perfect the craft as much as I can because I think no matter how many years you have been a teacher you can always improve and there are always new ways to teach and educate. I just want keep doing that to make sure that the kids are getting the best they can out of their education.”

Congratulations Georgia on your nomination.