Elite westside school’s rare double in statewide teacher ‘hot list’
It’s a big enough honour just to have one of your teachers named in this prestigious award. But two at the same school is off-the-charts good.
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Stuartholme School has pulled off a rare feat, with two of their teachers named in an annual “hot list’’ of the nation’s best educators.
The top Toowong girls’ school was one of only three in Queensland this year to pull off a “double’’, an amazing achievement considering only 75 teachers were selected for this year’s list.
The pair — Claire Lawler and Andrew Webster — were instrumental in Stuartholme’s online learning platform, STU@HOME, which enabled students to continue learning at a high level during the lockdown.
“Each year, The Educator puts together a ‘hot list’ of the most influential educators over the past 12 months. This year we are thrilled to have two staff make the list,’’ a school spokeswoman said.
“Mr Webster’s work on e-learning in the lead up to, and during the COVID-19 “learn from home’’ period meant our students could continue with their outstanding learning at home.’’
Mr Webster is the Director of eLearning at Stuartholme School and is a pioneer in eLearning pedagogies to support teacher and student engagement.
As the impacts of COVID-19 became apparent, he created a platform for the school’s bespoke learning model.
He led training of the teaching staff to create video classes students could watch, with information tutorial videos to help them with self-paced learning.
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The work of Ms Lawler, the school’s Social Justice Co-ordinator, goes far beyond that found in most other schools.
“Claire works with our students to find avenues and opportunities to contribute in this area, while at the same time benefiting people in need, from refugees to members in our community with ‘diffabilities’,’’ she said.
“Her goal and priority is the education and discernment around social justice issues.
“By focusing on this process, students can unpack the reasons why social justice issues exist, understanding long and short-term implications and what action needs to be taken.’’
Ms Lawler’s approach centres around volunteering, civic advocacy and social enterprise.
Organisers of The Educator’s list, the fifth it has produced, said they had an overwhelming number of nominations this year which they managed to whittle down to 75 who had made significant contributions.
The winners ranged from principals and head teachers through to school managers and other industry figures.
The other 10 Queensland teachers to make the cut include: John Paul College principal Karen Spiller and Head of Primary Lindsay McQuattie; Cameron Lynch from Marsden State High School; Holly Photiou and Jason Taggart from Ormiston College; Kimberley Bachmann from St Margaret’s Anglican Girls School; Tamborine Mountain State School’s Jason Smith; John Kennedy from Coorparoo State School; Julie Pilioglo from Chisholm Catholic College and Michael Ha from Hillcrest College.