Community welcome for new teachers

Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 130 No 3, 23 May 2025, page no 22.

In a heartfelt gesture of appreciation, a community organisation has reached out to a local school to demonstrate its support for local educators.

Alarmed to hear how the teacher shortage is affecting schools in the Logan area, Rotary Browns Plains decided to visit Regents Park State School to distribute welcome packs to new teachers arriving at the school for the 2025 academic year.

Club President Colin Tee explained: “One of our members brought up the teacher shortage in Logan at a meeting after reading an article in the Journal. 

“We decided to look at ways in which we can improve the image of the teaching profession in the community and maybe show how much we value teachers and welcome those who have chosen to work in Logan schools.”

“We thought that if we could encourage one teacher to stay, that would be great. And if we can encourage more people to come, that will be even better.” 

The club found a supplier that produces teaching gift packs and asked them to make up 19. 

“It’s basically all the stuff that beginning teachers would need, like stickers, stamps, and rewards, just little things like that that new teachers would need or wouldn’t think of getting for themselves initially.”

The packs were presented to new teachers, as well as teacher-aides and the leadership team, at a staff meeting.

“They were really overwhelmed. They didn’t expect to be rewarded for doing their job, and were pleased to get that sort of community support, which showed how much we value them and how much we value them coming to teach our children.”

Principal Veronica Kostaschuk said: “It was a really lovely surprise and was very much appreciated by the teaching community.

“It’s awesome that the local community is looking to support our school, and it was wonderful for our staff to see the value of education and their work being recognised.”

The club now plans to make the presentation an annual event, with a different Browns Plains school being selected each year.