Mackay Central State school welcomes three new teachers

One Mackay school’s ‘large family’ just got a bit bigger with three new teachers, including a mother following her dream career. Meet them here.

Bec Bussey’s first day as a teacher at Mackay Central State School

As a mother of two Bec Bussey knows the stresses each parent experiences dropping their kids off at the gates for the first time.

But this time it's her two children sending her off to begin her new journey.

The Mackay local’s dream of becoming a teacher became a reality today as she joined two other new recruits at Mackay Central State Primary this morning.

“I wanted to be a teacher when I was little, all through school,” she said.

“I’m really excited to be part of the community here because they are just one large family.”

Ms Bussey says while she’d always had the desire for the job, having her own family has taught her some valuable lessons for the classroom.

“My kids have special needs, additional needs, so coming from that point of view I’m able to kind of work from a personal point of view with someone that has a few extra needs,” she said.

Her son, a grade five student at the same school, will be joining the class of another new recruit.

Jane Pratt

Jane Pratt holds 18 years of experience as a regional primary school teacher and also began her journey at Mackay Central State School on Tuesday morning.

“I’m very excited to be here,” she said.

Growing up in boarding school, Ms Pratt’s love for teaching came at the hands of being a part of a community and helping young ones grow.

“Every student in our class is an individual and has different needs.”

Ms Pratt and Ms Bussey will be joined by 25 year old Taylor Bates who enters her third year teaching prep.

Taylor Bates is starting her role as a teacher at Mackay Central State School

Ms Bates returns to Mackay after teaching in Logan for two years, and will take up a prep and grade one class.

Leaving the big smoke to come to a regional school of only around 200 students boils down to her love of the community vibe, something she feels Mackay Central attracts.

“It’s such a great environment.

“The kids need that community, it takes a village,” she said.

Principal Lisa Wayman said while the school has been growing over the years, these three latest recruitments came as a gift to the community.

“Normally this school doesn’t have a lot of teachers, so it’s a really exciting time,” she said.

As the school continues to search for one last teacher to fill up a vacancy, Wayman admits the difficulties Mackay schools have in particular in securing recruits from the industry.

“If you go out west, you’ll get accommodation cheap and the locality allowance. So to have the recruitment in Mackay has been really hard in the last five years.

“We’re on the phone recruiting constantly,” she said.

Today however, Lisa dropped the phone lines to lend a hand in welcoming their new preppies rolling up for their first day.

“The first day is always the best day.”