Leah Trott named North Burnett’s best teacher for 2021

The final votes have been tallied and the winner has been decided! Meet the North Burnett’s best teacher for 2021 and see what makes them stand out here.

For more than two decades, Leah Trott has guided Gayndah’s youngest through their formative years, with her school and community becoming more like “a family” than simply a workplace.

Her dedication to the job and has now earned her the title of North Burnett’s best teacher for 2021, as voted by our readers.

The Gayndah State School teacher was overjoyed at the news.

“I’m grateful for the support parents give the school and that they’re invested in their children, it makes a huge difference,” Ms Trott said.

Teaching was always a calling for Ms Trott, who said she made the decision to go into primary school teaching when she was in Year 11.

“I loved working with kids and wanted to make a difference,” she said.

Her teaching career started 26 years ago at Walkervale State School in Bundaberg.

Two years later she was at Gayndah, and has been there ever since.

From literacy coach to head of curriculum, there almost isn’t a role Ms Trott hasn’t fulfilled at the school.

Despite more than two decades at the school, she said the community and the students kept her excited for everyday.

“The school is like a family to me. I love seeing the development of the children and if you can make a difference in just one child’s life then it’s worth it,” she said.

“We look at growing generation Gayndah – we’re trying to build great citizens for our community.”

And it’s not just the school she gives it all for, with the schoolteacher in 2019 being announced as the Volunteer of the Year at Gayndah’s Australia Day celebrations.

She said community involvement was really important for her role.

“It’s who we engage kids and how we support out community,” she said.

And Ms Trott has no plans of slowing down, saying her role never felt like work.

“I don’t consider it a job. It’s my passion, it’s my way of life.”