After moving to study teaching in Townsville, this first-year teacher couldn’t be happier to return home to Innisfail. She shares what it’s like to be a graduate teacher living and working in the “small town with heart”. 

We often rely on external sources for a hit of happiness: social gatherings, play dates at the park, shows, movies or family getaways. But in this current climate, with looming lockdowns, border closures and social restrictions, these options aren’t always possible. So perhaps instead of relying on these external factors for our dopamine fix, we need to look at an alternative state of mind.

This year’s graduate teachers launched their teaching careers in unprecedented times, and while they should have been celebrating at their graduation ceremonies, they were instead forced into the biggest learning-from-home experiment the country has ever seen. 

Children are naturally curious, inquisitive and engaged with their environment. When their surroundings are stimulating, they learn through experiment, trial and error and discovery. In other words, they learn through play.  

The P&F meetings, the fete days, the cake stalls, the calls for volunteers for school excursions, discos and athletic carnivals. Some weeks, it seems the extra pressures on parents never end. But if you can’t make it to every call out (or don’t really feel up to baking cupcakes at midnight for the cake stall), […]

How often have you watched your child give up on something? Or mutter the phrase, “I can’t do it!”? Or break down in tears due to frustration and fear of failure? It’s a hard thing to experience when you’re a parent. But it’s also a completely normal reaction for a child. We find out more […]