When reflecting on primary or high school, people often have a favourite teacher that sticks out in their mind.

For Amaroo School Year 3 teacher Lucy Spackman, she had several – and it was one of the reasons she was driven to pursue a career in teaching.

“Growing up I always played ‘teacher’ with my siblings, and I had lots of memorable primary school teachers,” Lucy said.

“It made me want to be a memorable teacher too, and I hope I will be for the students that I’ve taught over the last few years since I started teaching in 2019.”

Friday, October 29 marked World Teacher’s Day in Australia, taking place at a time where teachers around the country have had to work harder to do their job in an online setting and adapt to new methods of teaching due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Working both from home and at school during Canberra’s lockdown, Lucy says remote learning highlighted the importance of social interaction as well as learning.

“In these uncertain times, feeling supported is so important. I feel really lucky that we’ve had such a collaborative approach to the transition with all the staff checking in on each other and working together, so it makes it a lot easier,” Lucy said.

“It also really highlighted just how resilient these amazing young people are, the way that they’ve taken it in their stride and done their very best. It’s inspiring to me to see how well they’ve transitioned to learning in different environments. For the students I’m teaching this year, they haven’t experienced a normal school year since year one. So that really made me reflect that it’s such a big thing for these little lives.”

During the lockdown, the school ensured there was a strong connection between students and teachers.

“We made sure we made time to have social online opportunities with the kids, to have fun and games,” Lucy said.

Lucy is looking forward to seeing her class in person when they return to school next week.

“There’s definitely so much excitement around it, with kids saying they can’t wait to come back and see everyone,” she said.

“In what has been such a challenging year, I feel really lucky to work in a profession where showing up every day is so important, not just for yourself but for your colleagues and these amazing little people.”