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2018 Outstanding Contribution to School Community Award Finalist

Jessica Walker

Yeronga State High School
It was a watershed moment.

For months, Jessica Walker and Yeronga State High School (YSHS) staff had been talking to students, their families and their lawyers about changes to visas for asylum seekers, which meant some pupils would no longer have a right to a high school education once they turned 18, and they could not apply for tertiary studies as domestic students.  

YSHS staff watched as one 19-year-old student was denied asylum and was brought to school by immigration detention security guards. Then one day the student, Mojgan Shamsalipoor, was transferred to a Darwin Immigration Detention centre.
Picture
​“That is when we just went ‘No, enough is enough now; we can’t be just silently standing by any more’,” Ms Walker, the former YSHS Head of EALD (English as an Additional Language or Dialect) said. There were other students in similar circumstances, and under Ms Walker’s lead, the school’s staff and parents began to advocate for Mojgan’s release.

“State education is about social justice and it’s about ensuring that everybody has the right to learn and have the same human rights that we’re all afforded, and you have to speak up when you see those things that aren’t being provided for students, you have to speak up for your students,” Ms Walker said.
Picture
Jessica (right) with Mojgan.
Her passion and determination to make a difference are just some of the reasons Ms Walker is a finalist in the Queensland College of Teachers (QCT) Outstanding Contribution to School Community Award. Earlier this year she won the Department of Education International Women’s Day Award.
​
Now a Deputy Principal at YSHS, Ms Walker was able to boost the numbers of teachers, teacher aides and school support staff who came from different cultural backgrounds, which enabled better communication between staff and students. Parent-teacher interview attendance went up 300 per cent once school staff were able to communicate to parents in the same language.

Scholarships for refugee students, boosted welfare and support services have all been provided under the leadership of Ms Walker, who said she was proud to work at a school which embraced diversity and celebrated it as its strength and point of difference. 

“We’re a global village in this tiny little spot in Brisbane and the greatest thing I have seen is the kids feeling welcome here, that they are all part of this Yeronga State High School community and that that  is the thing they have in common – their humanity is what they have in common – there are all these differences, but through the differences they find the things that are the same,” Ms Walker said. 
​
The QCT Excellence in Teaching Awards are the only state government awards which recognise registered teachers from all schooling sectors, and the early childhood sector, across all subjects state-wide. Winners will be announced on October 25, on the eve of World Teachers’ Day celebrations in Australia.

​Congratulations Jessica on being named a finalist.
Queensland College of Teachers
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​Toowong Qld 4066
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  • Home
    • TEACHX AWARDS >
      • Beginning to Teach Award Nominees 2019
      • 2019 TEACHX Winners
      • 2019 TEACHX Finalists
      • 2019 TEACHX Nominees >
        • 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
  • Claire Cummins
  • Anxiety and trauma―an expert’s advice