Henderson College principal Sandra Ferry and educator Susie Panagiotaros have more than 40 years teaching experience between them. Danielle Meddemmen sat down with them to talk about their long commitment to educating in Sunraysia. Picture: Ben Gross

Tell me a bit about your background in teaching. 

SF: I did all of my schooling in Melbourne and when I graduated I accepted a job here in Mildura as a Prep, 1 and 2 teacher. I taught here at Henderson College for two years, married a local person and then my husband and I went overseas to do some voluntary work in the Solomon Islands.

They held my job here so I came back and taught for half a year before I had my first child.

I had four children and I came back when my youngest twins were starting school. I came back to Henderson College as a 5/6 teacher for about six years and then I accepted the principal position and that was in 2005. 

SP: I have been here at Henderson College for just five years. I started teaching back in 1996 in Geelong and had some family leave along the way.

I had to resign from my position in Geelong as I didn't have the option to keep my job. Then I came back to Mildura, my home town, because it takes a village to raise a family and I was a single mum. I started doing casual relief teaching work and then Sandra offered me a job here. I thought it would just be part-time but it turned out to be a full-time position. 

Sandra, as the principal, do you miss being in the classroom?

SF: I love being in the classroom, that's what I really enjoy doing. And I enjoy working alongside teachers and supporting them as well. 

But I also love investing in new projects and taking the school on that journey. So next year we are looking at incorporating the Invictus Wellbeing Program into our high school and looking at doing the F1 in-school challenge so that will be a really exciting initiative.

What has been the biggest change in teaching since you started out?

SF: I think we are doing a lot more in the character education space than when I first started. The wellbeing side of the children is more of a focus now in what we are doing.

It's touching base with the kids about how they are, how they went in their weekend sport and being interested beyond the classroom.

SP: I agree. We are good educators and we know how to teach the curriculum, but it is more than that nowadays. Sandra recently pointed out that we have other issues now like technology has taken away a lot of the children's interaction. They don't know how to engage in a conversation, they don't know how to make eye contact because it's just a technology, head-down society.

So that's one of our main philosophies here at our school.

I just saw a little girl before and asked her about her new bunny rabbit Milo, so she knows that I have listened to her and that I care. Yes, I can teach art, but knowing that I care about the beyond is really important.

What is the most challenging part of teaching?

SF: All of the paperwork and the documentation that has come in since we both began teaching that never used to be there before.

There is a lot more accountability. Now we constantly have improvement goals in the whole school and we are asking 'are we achieving that?','what are we going to do so that we do meet it?' So it all has to be documented.

SP: We are being audited all the time and we need to be accountable.

We have parents that need to make sure we are offering a solid education and they will hold us accountable.

If there are holes they will come back to us and we need to do everything perfectly.

Sandra knows that if I am away tomorrow she will know exactly what I am teaching and my intentions and then anyone can step into that role.

Do you feel children have changed?

SF: Kids are kids. They want to learn and they want to be engaged.

I don't necessarily think that they have changed.

I think they have more and that is why camps are so great because we can strip all of that away so they can enjoy their interactions. 

SP: The wanting to learn was there when Sandra and I went to school, when we first taught and it is still there now. It is just that the application is different. When I taught years ago, I taught students how to write with a blackboard and chalk.

Now, we still teach them how to write, we just do it differently.

What is one piece of advice to a teacher who is starting out now?

SP: Build a relationship with the students and be invested. We have a first year that has come on board and the way that she smiles and greets her kids, the kids know they are valued.

SF: Pace yourself. You will get to know everything, but it isn't all going to happen tomorrow. We are still learning and it is a journey.

You can burn out so much in teaching.