WONTHAGGI Primary School teacher Ruth Chambers has claimed the 2023 Victorian Education Excellence Awards Outstanding Primary Teacher at last nights awards ceremony after being named a finalist earlier in the month by Minister for Education Ben Carroll.
Ruth has been recognised for her enduring dedication to enriching the musical and cultural education of students at Wonthaggi Primary School by incorporating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives.
“It's an absolute thrill. I'm so excited. I didn't assume anything and so when they made the announcement that was pretty exciting.”
“It was really lovely because I had two colleagues from work with me, our principal, Wendy Truett, and a teaching colleague, Tammy Grimley. They were part of the team that wrote the nomination in the first place, so it was great to have them there with me.”
"Wonthaggi Primary School has a Leadership Team that supports the statewide Department of Education imperative to embed First Nations perspectives throughout the curriculum."
Ruth has developed programs of song and dance that bring Wonthaggi Primary School together to work alongside Senior Boon Wurrung Elder, Aunty Fay Stewart-Muir incorporating music, language, and games from the Boon Wurrung community.
"The Leadership Teams’ support is personal, fiscal and organisational. Their commitment is demonstrated through supporting the organisation of incursions by local First Nations community members so that staff and students can learn alongside each other directly from First Nations locals; visual and performing artists, guest speakers, story tellers and Smoking Ceremonies to celebrate school events, such as the opening of our new playgrounds. Also allowing specific allocations of time for staff to learn together, creating space for whole school professional development and resourcing our school library (print and virtual) are other examples."
Modelling best practice in cultural awareness, Ruth’s approach is enriched by her lived experience of working in Aboriginal communities. Initiating and now leading the Cultural Awareness team, Ruth is supporting staff to embed their knowledge of Koorie perspectives within their classrooms and daily practices.
"The work that I have been privileged to lead would also not be possible without the commitment and teamwork of staff. Critically, this is underpinned and guided by Senior Boon Wurrung Elder Aunty Fay Muir. She has worked with us as a school community since 2020 and we thank her for patience when addressing our learning needs, making contributions to our school-wide curriculum documents and introducing us to her Culture. We are so very fond of her and are grateful for her tireless and ongoing work with us all.
Ruth’s musical and cultural leadership has created a celebratory engagement with Koorie knowledge at the school that is bringing great joy and new awareness to staff, students, and their families.
At the award ceremony Ruth spoke about the importance of everyone having a voice, seeking out the truth and being kind in what is often a crazy world.
“There were probably about a 1000 people there and a whole lot of staff that were waiting on the tables came up to us afterwards and said, ‘I went to school in Wonthaggi or I know Wonthaggi because such and such lives there; so, it was just also really exciting that the town of Wonthaggi is getting some recognition for some very solid teaching that occurs here in our schools."
"It is a really great thing to have a such a positive, heartfelt story coming out of schools, particularly at this time,” Ruth said.
