Peachester Principal brings home the prize

Inspiring educator moment

By Sonia Clark

Amanda Kirkwood from QSuper presents Kim Fillery with her award

Peachester State School principal Kim Fillery was recently recognised as the North Coast winner of a competition run by QSuper, which sought to acknowledge the amazing contributions teachers make to both their students and their local communities.

Coinciding with World Teachers' Day, members of the industry super fund were invited to share their proudest teaching moment. When accepting the award, Kim said she felt her proudest moment was when she attended the medical graduation three years ago of a favourite year 7 student with autism spectrum disorder, who told her she was the reason he was alive and now a doctor.

“That was a great moment but I’m also equally proud that many of our students tell me they want to go on to become teachers. I’ve also had many students go on to become occupational therapists, doctors and engineers, and it’s always wonderful to see students go on to become successful in their chosen fields.”

A QSuper spokesperson said the competition was run through QSuper's recognition initiative - the Thank You Project - with hundreds of inspiring and emotional responses received from across Queensland. With so many heartfelt responses highlighting the passion and pride teachers had in their roles, and the willingness to go above and beyond to support their students, the panel of judges had a hard time choosing just seven winners from across the state. The competition was open to teachers and educators from all education institutions across the state, both public and private.

“The Thank You Project is just one way for us to show our support for the teachers and behind-thescenes staff who devote their time to improving the education and future opportunities of Queenslanders,” the QSuper spokesperson said.

Kim said that she thought the key to being an inspiring educator was about having good relationships with students, spending time with them and really getting to know them.

“It’s all about the early mornings, lunch breaks and late afternoons and getting to know the kids. I try to learn at least one key thing about each child and make the effort to spend time and find out more about their interests. I’m also pretty good at handball,” Kim laughed.

As part of her win, Kim will receive a $1,500 prize pack for the school and a $100 Coles-Myer voucher for herself. Kim plans to use the prize pack for the benefit of the school teaching staff and invest in a new fridge for their lunchroom.

She plans to put the personal voucher towards buying a new outfit she can wear at school formal occasions such as graduation.