Ambrose State School’s Shannon Peart named Gladstone’s favourite Prep teacher | 2024

A beloved small town Prep teacher dedicated to bringing fun to the classroom has been named Gladstone’s favourite just days after celebrating her birthday.

A beloved small town teacher dedicated to bringing fun to the classroom has been named Gladstone’s favourite prep teacher just days after celebrating her birthday with her students.

Recently celebrating her 46th birthday surrounded by her adoring class, Ambrose State School’s Shannon Peart has been honoured as Gladstone’s favourite Prep teacher of 2024.

Treated with beautiful handwritten messages, cards, flowers and chocolate from her Prep and Year 1 students, Shannon reflected on her birthday, saying “Birthdays at school are the best.”

“My class were telling me how many sleeps until my birthday,” she said.

“They aren’t very good at keeping secrets, and one of them blurted out ‘we made you bracelets for your birthday’ the day before my birthday.”

Born in Rockhampton and spending most of her childhood in the mining town Tieri, Shannon enjoyed school, fondly remembering her fabulous teacher Mr Cooper who left a lasting impression on her educational journey.

Shannon went on to be school captain in primary school, as well as her high school in Capella.

“I guess I’ve always been a natural leader/mother hen,” she said.

Staring her teaching career in 2000, after working in vacation care and as a teacher’s aide previously, Shannon feels that teaching has always been at the back of her mind ever since she was a little girl playing school with her dolls.

Rockynats 05 to move from Easter long weekend to start of Qld Easter school holidays

A mother of three boys: Archer (14), Nate (12) and Zander (11), Shannon has found teaching be a great career for her family life, and has been lucky that she has taught each of them somewhere in their schooling at Ambrose.

To Shannon’s excitement, all three of her boys have followed in her footsteps becoming school captains, with her youngest son, Zander leading the school this year.

Teaching all primary school year levels during her time as a teacher, as well as becoming the teaching principal at two different schools (Valkyrie State School and Coppabella State School), Shannon has been a Prep teacher ‘on and off’ for around five years.

She also taught preschool before Prep was introduced to Queensland in 2007, and was one of the many teachers who transitioned into the Prep system.

Described as ‘so kind and patient’ by Michelle Cameron, one of the many people that nominated her, Shannon prides herself in bringing fun into her classroom.

“In our classroom, we like to have fun with singing, dancing, exploring, playing, talking and sharing (etc.),” she said.

“I like to take the pressure off learning.”

Ambrose State School's Prep/ Year 1 teacher Shannon Peart has been named the region's favourite Prep teacher of 2024.

Shannon believes that the secret to becoming a great teacher changes all the time, as the ‘students are changing in this ever changing world we live in’.

“If anything, the secret is that we don’t know all the answers and we are all still learning, all the time,” Shannon said.

Acknowledging the expectations by the end of the year, Shannon strives to do her best in supporting each student to reach the milestones at their own pace.

“We embrace mistakes, we take risks and we have good role models,” she said.

“You have to build good relationships with trust, patience and empathy before effective learning can take place.”

While she said that it depends on the day and changes all the time, Shannon said that her favourite part about being a Prep teacher is the children’s excitement to see her when they arrive at the classroom, often greeting her with a smile or hug.

“If they are having a bad morning, it’s nice to be able to help them work through that and do your best to make sure they have a good day,” she said.

“Sometimes it’s the little things, like ‘I lost a tooth, I can click now, I can write my name, that says p-a-t, pat’.”

“So much learning takes place in Prep and we are so lucky to be a part of it.”

Having taught prep at Ambrose State School for the last three years, Shannon has found a great community support system at the school.

“We know how lucky we are to work in a such great place that they goes above and beyond for the team,” she said.

“ I want to give a shout to my teachers aide, Mrs Marrianne Johnson, who plays such an important role in the lives of all the students in our class; I wouldn’t be the teacher I am, without her.”

Upon hearing the news that she has been named Gladstone’s favourite Prep teacher with 14 per cent of the votes, Shannon felt ‘truly’ amazed and humbled.

“To the people who made the effort to vote for me, thank you,” she said.

“It’s nice to know you’re appreciated.”

With 7 per cent of the votes, Rosella Park School’s Michelle Williams tied for second place with Gladstone South State School’s Emily Chapman (photo not included), and followed closely by Deb Whitfield and Rebecca Prichard from St Francis Catholic Primary School in third place with four per cent of the votes.

See the full ranking: