Beloved Mackay Isaac Whitsunday teachers retire after 40 years of service

These four Mackay Isaac Whitsunday teachers have dedicated their lives to raising generations. Now the final bell has rung as they leave the classroom for a well-earned rest.

For more than four decades these men and women have dedicated their lives to raising generations of children.

Now the final bell has rung for these outstanding teachers and they leave the classroom to head off for a well-earned rest.

Here are four teachers across the Mackay Isaac Whitsunday region who bid farewell after four decades in the profession:

Jan Jamieson

The memory of a gunshot-wielding father tying his sons to the clothesline so he could pimp out their mother is etched in Jan Jamieson’s mind as a marker of how much the education system has changed.

Mrs Jamieson said she once dared to go to the home as she needed the father’s permission for a school excursion.

“You just had to love this poor kid,” she said.

“He swore like a trooper, filthy, dirty, grotty kid but with a bit of love, oh my gosh.

“I’d bring two lunches to school because he probably wasn’t going to get it so sometimes he wouldn’t eat it all but he’d take some home for his brother.

“We decided he needed to go on this excursion, we were going on a train ride.

“I didn’t care about the money because I’d paid for that but I needed the signature on this piece of paper.”

Outgoing Victoria Park State School special needs teacher Jan Jamieson is retiring from education after 44 years in the profession. Picture: Heidi Petith

Mrs Jamieson said she and another teacher drove to the home and knocked on the door.

Gun in hand, the father answered with, “What the f**k do you want?”

Mrs Jamieson said while it seemed like another world ago now, so did a relatively technology-free classroom with only a single cassette player shared between multiple rooms when she entered education 41 years ago.

“I look around now, and I’ve got an interactive TV, there’s laptops, there’s iPads,” she said.

Outgoing Victoria Park State School special needs teacher Jan Jamieson’s enthusiasm for her career was as infectious as her laugh and positive spirit. Picture: Heidi Petith

All equipped Mrs Jamieson to be able to help her special needs’ students, such as through the use of iPads as communication devices.

She has taught at Moranbah, North, Fitzgerald, Walkerston, Slade Point and Andergrove State Schools as well as for 24 years at Victoria Park State School, where she became the school’s first special needs teacher and completed postgraduate qualifications.

“I needed to know more than I knew, I’ve got family history of Asperger’s, Autism, so (I’ve) got a lived experience of it.

“I’d found my niche, my tribe.

“I’ve been so lucky, (Victoria Park) has some amazing teachers, really wonderful teachers that have gone the extra mile and have made this school.”

And while retirement will give Mrs Jamieson a well-deserved break from decades of extra-curricular enthusiasm such as sewing thousands of school concert costumes, she will never give up learning.

“I’m going to learn what you do when you don’t go to school,” she said with a laugh.

Megan McNamara

Megan McNamara helped make primary school science cool “before STEM got sexy”.

The outgoing Homebush State School principal said Science Sparks encouraged years 4 to 7 teachers to teach more science in the classrooms, a project which helped earn her a Peter Doherty Award.

Her own teaching career began 38 years ago when she left the mountaintops of Maleny on the Sunshine Coast at the age of 20 for a life in the outback at Glenden.

“My father tried so hard to talk me out of (teaching),” Ms McNamara said.

“He thought I was just being what I could see.

“Both of my parents, my maternal grandparents, and my great grandfather were teachers.

“And now my daughter’s a teacher over in Perth.

“It’s a personality, chalk of my blood,” she said with a laugh.

But after 38 years including 20 years in the classroom as well as project management for Education Queensland, Ms McNamara said she was ready for new and “very exciting” possibilities.

“I just want to try something different while I’ve still got the energy,” she said, adding she might give writing a go harking back to the days of being a columnist for The Midweek.

2021 Homebush State School Principal Megan McNamara is retiring from education after 38 years in the profession. Pictured with students (from left): Jemma Bowes, Darcy Attard and Charlie Oswald. Picture: Contributed

She said the hardest part of her career had been the apathetic students – “the kids who are the opposite of what kids should be which is shiny, bright, fresh and enthusiastic”.

“They just break your heart,” she said.

“They stop risking and putting themselves out there.

“Kids have to be willing to fail.

“They’re probably protecting themselves but it’s the worst thing they can do.

“That’s hard because you can see that child, unless they change that attitude, it’s a cycle of failure.”

But she said overall, children were “such a delight”.

“They’re sweet and they’re naive, and you’re watching them change and grow in front of you.

“They’re not hardened and sophisticated, they’re great fun to be around and they say what you’re thinking.

“I’ve never had to let my inner child go because I (got) to take my inner child to work everyday.

“You hear people say negative things about teaching but it’s an amazing profession.

“Kids are so much fun to work with and they just pay you back in spades.”

Christine McNichol

Christine McNichol celebrated her 40th anniversary in the teaching profession by heading into retirement, a career she says she would choose all over again without doubt.

“It’s fulfilling and rewarding,” Ms McNichol said.

“I’ve had a rich, varied and interesting working life.

“It has taught me patience, tolerance, organisational skills and a strong belief in educational equity.

“I believe that every student regardless of background has the potential to succeed.

“My passion was to provide my students with literacy skills for that to occur.”

Ms McNichol entered the world of academia in North Queensland at the Townsville College of Advanced Education before her first class teacher role at Mirani State Primary School in 1971.

Christine McNichol celebrated her 40th anniversary in the teaching career by heading into retirement. Picture: Contributed

She has also taught, co-ordinated or coached at St Mary’s, Gargett, Slade Point and Victoria Park State Schools including when the latter was known at Victoria Park Infants School.

There was also a stint from 1974 through to 1976 teaching literacy skills to immigrant children through the Inner London Education Authority in the UK, and three years from 1989 where Ms McNichol taught English, literacy and numeracy to immigrants and adult learners at TAFE.

Her final role was head of curriculum for three of Mackay region’s more rural schools at Gargett, Chelona and Pinnacle.

Ms McNichol said her favourite memories included year six graduations, school camps and sports days as well as “spontaneous humorous incidents in the classroom”.

“I would hope that I did have a positive influence on my students and that I was one of many teachers who inspired them throughout their schooling,” she said.

“There were patient and learned people who mentored me in my career.

“And I’ve met some extraordinary, dedicated, hardworking teachers and auxiliary staff with some outstanding bosses who only wanted the best for their schools.

“I’ve also made lifelong friends and felt it was a privilege to belong to a team.”

Heading into retirement, Ms McNichol said she was most looking forward to having the time to read books, garden and visit friends.

Frans van der Westhuizen

In his 21 years at Whitsunday Christian College, Frans van der Westhuizen – or ‘Sir’ for short – has seen 480,000 students come and go, and walked about 28,000km on campus.

Mr van der Westhuizen trained and started his career as a teacher in his native South Africa before relocating to outback Queensland with his wife Elmarie in 1998.

In 2000, Whitsunday Christian College offered him a job teaching a composite Year 6/7 class and he has not looked back since.

He served in a number of management roles at the Airlie Beach school over the years – including stints as primary school, middle school and senior school co-ordinator – but in the end returned to the classroom as a middle school science, maths and practical studies teacher.

Mr van der Westhuizen said when he finished year 12 himself, he never thought he would “stay in school the rest of [his] life”.

And although his 43-year career has certainly been challenging – even sending him to hospital at one stage because of the “intense” workload – he wouldn't have had it any other way.

Frans Van Der Westhuizen started his 43-year education career in his native South Africa before relocating to outback Queensland. He has taught at Whitsunday Christian College since 2000. Picture: Contributed

“I’m just so grateful to the kids, for allowing me to speak into their lives and how they’ve responded to that,” he said.

“It’s wonderful to be part of a community that looks up to you and respects you.

“And for me as well – I respect the students big time, and that’s why we had such a good relationship.

“If you treat them with respect, they actually give the respect back.

“And if you’ve got the right relationship with your students, the learning process becomes much more open and fun.

“And it’s just the most rewarding job to see how students achieve and learn and make progress in their lives.”

Mr van der Westhuizen, 66, and ‘Ms Elmarie’ – also a teacher at Whitsunday Christian College – plan to stay in the Whitsundays at least until Elmarie’s retirement in three to four years’ time.

Mr van der Westhuizen said his first year of retirement would likely involve some relief teaching, but he was also keen to work on his garden, and spend more time on other passions such as fishing.

He feels a deep sense of loyalty to the school and says he will always be there for the students even if not physically with them in the classroom every day.

“The kids say ‘Why don’t you keep going? We don’t want you to go’ because I’ve seen some of them from year 6 through to year 10, 11, 12, and you do develop a personal bond and become like family.

“But there’s many aspects outside of school that come into that role as well – like advice on jobs, relationships, even parents.

“I always say the role of a teacher’s not just a teacher – there’s like 55 things around it and more you need to cater for – you can be their dad, mum, doctor, counsellor – you have so many things thrown to you and you just make the best of it. ”

Originally published as Beloved Mackay Isaac Whitsunday teachers retire after 40 years of service