2020 has been a year of triumph for 30 exceptional Queensland independent school teachers including Letitia Thomas of St Andrew’s Anglican College, Peregian Springs who have earned the highest levels of professional career recognition in Australia.
The regional and metropolitan teachers have been certified by Independent School Queensland (ISQ) as Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers (HALT).
They bring to 86 the total number of HALTs working in Queensland independent schools and join a further 750 certified teachers nationwide.
HALT certification is overseen nationally by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) and undertaken locally by certifying authorities including ISQ. Teachers applying for certification undergo a rigorous evaluation process that involves gathering evidence of their teaching practices, classroom observations and peer and student reviews.
Year 1 teacher Ms Thomas described teaching as a rewarding profession and credits her HALT mentor and colleague Kerrie Johnstone as being integral to her certification success.
Ms Thomas began her working years studying a Diploma in Early Childhood and working within child care centres.
“After becoming a young parent I decided to go to University to study Early Childhood Education and become an early childhood teacher. From that point, I have experienced a varied and exciting journey in education,“ she said.
“Teaching is such a diverse and rewarding career. Every day is different and despite working in the teaching profession for years, there is always an opportunity for new learning and improvement. The joy that is evident when a child discovers something new for the first time, is immeasurable. Despite being challenging at times – juggling so many different hats and roles – I truly believe that I have the most rewarding opportunity to build relationships and make a difference in young lives.“
Ms Thomas said taking part in the HALT program gave her the lens and scope to really analyse her teaching.
“In some ways I have drilled down to analyse the daily choices that I make and alternatively, have looked at my teaching from a bigger picture,“ she said.Her mentor Kerrie Johnstone acted as a critical friend and assisted me in numerous ways, she said.
“Her questioning and discussions around my daily practice helped me to identify how my work within the classroom exemplified the teaching standards. Kerrie works in the secondary school and it was effective to have someone separate from my daily teaching world gain insight into my practice through our conversations and the examples within my portfolio. Kerrie herself has been through this process, so her advice was very relevant and pertinent to my success.“
2020 has been a year of adaption and change for teachers.
Ms Thomas said online learning had afforded them an opportunity to further extend their knowledge in this area and to do so within a short period of time.
“As a direct result of this adaption, we have now further extended the use of the online platform for not only teaching and learning but also as part of our formal reporting processes,“ she said.
