School spirit and community fundraising have increased under an outstanding Gold Coast early career teacher. St Andrews Lutheran College Year 6 teacher Madeline Trimble’s students have a grade point average similar to students who have significantly more experienced teachers. St Andrews Lutheran College Head of Junior School and deputy principal, Darrin Schumacher, says Madeline is a “breath of fresh air” with her positive attitude, enthusiasm and willingness to be involved in all areas of college life.
“Madeline has taken up leadership positions on the Global Outlook team, coached sports teams and contributed positively to the teaching team,” Darrin says. “Madeline is also an excellent classroom teacher. She is very calm with the students, provides excellent learning experiences, engages the students, gets to know them on a personal level and uses data to plan lessons,” he says. “Madeline is very good at using her knowledge and observations of student work to inform her teaching practice and can design learning experiences that engage the students in her class. The students in Madeline’s classes are regularly chosen to represent the college in academic extra-curricular activities.” Madeline has worked exceptionally with experienced teachers, asking questions and then implementing the answers in her classroom. “She has quickly mastered the college’s teaching and learning framework and implemented it to a very high standard,” Darrin says. For students, she has introduced chill-out spaces and zones of regulation in her classroom. Madeline also took on the fledgling Global Outlook team and under her leadership the group, which now has a large number of students wanting to be involved, has raised money for charities and created awareness about significant issues within the community. This group has also helped to raise school spirit. Congratulations Madeline on your nomination.