Australia’s Best Teachers 2024: Why Matt Shirvington’s parents have more fans than him

TV presenter and Olympian Matt Shirvington is used to the limelight — but his parents have more influence than him in many ways.

Olympic sprinter and Sunrise presenter Matt Shirvington is often stopped on the street by fans — not his own, but fans of his parents who were both school teachers.

“I have lost count of the times I have run into kids or grown adults who were taught by my parents … literally anywhere in the world,” Shirvington said.

“There was one moment I was in London in a black cab at the height of my running career and I got a knock at the window and I’m thinking ‘My god, what is this’, and it was a girl saying, ‘Your Dad taught me and I just wanted to say hi’.

“I’ve even had the Blue Wiggle Anthony Field live on TV saying ‘Oh by the way, your dad taught me and my brother’. It happens all over the place.”

Sunrise presenter Matt Shirvington with his parents Phil and Jenny at Balmoral. Both parents were once school teachers. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

As News Corp’s Australia’s Best Teachers campaign comes to a close, the Channel 7 star said the stories of educators going above and beyond to help kids reminded him of the positive connections his father Phil and mother Jenny had with students — and it made him proud.

“Their biggest legacy is probably allowing the individual to grow and become as much of the person that they wanted to be as they can. Dad’s definitely shown that over the years. I’ve had boys where he’s taught tell me how they were struggling and how Dad pulled them aside and gave them a lot of confidence.”

And it’s not just students that approach Shirvington to chat about his folks.

“I get teachers coming up that have worked with both Mum and Dad who say they have either been either mentored or helped along the way by them,” the Channel 7 star said.

Jenny, 72, taught for almost 40 years in primary school classrooms and as an assistant principal. She said being entrusted with the futures of children was a privilege.

“You have a precious little gift that you need to look after whether they are just coming into school or are 12 when they’re leaving primary school,” she said.

“And if you go into teaching you have to really want to be there for the children you are working with and have a desire to do your best for them.”

Matt Shirvington is proud that students still remember his parents Phil and Jenny fondly. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Phil, 73, who taught high school science, geology, PE, and history, still misses parts of teaching after his 43-year career ended but is reminded of the good times when students touch base.

“People come up to me just to say G’day — the warmth of it, it’s very uplifting and very humbling,” he said.

Phil said it was Jenny who convinced him to try teaching and he was thankful he went down that path.

“The opportunity to work with young people is extraordinary,” he said. “Towards the end of my career, I used to remind myself every time I walked into a classroom of 25 that many of these (teenagers) have issues, some obviously more profound than others. And I knew I had to be cautious and aware of that — and just be kind and caring.”

Matt Shirvington says his parents always worked hard and went above and beyond for their students. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Shirvington wasn’t taught by either of his parents, but having to regularly wait for his Mum after school had finished or witnessing the family table bulging with reports or papers that needed marking on a weekend gave him an insight into how hard they worked.

“I can testify to the fact that teachers work extremely hard,” Shirvington said.

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Originally published as Australia’s Best Teachers 2024: Why Matt Shirvington’s parents have more fans than him