World Teachers’ Day – celebrating the NSW teachers who help students thrive now and beyond. Francisco Dominguez reports.
In the lead up to World Teachers’ Day in NSW on Friday 27 October, join us in recognising the outstanding work of teachers across the state.
Amy Gill, Education Innovation Lead at not-for-profit Youth Off the Streets, said 23 years in the profession has taught her teaching is a profession of hope, healing and love in action.
This belief has driven her to devote her career to the most vulnerable, disadvantaged students in the school system.
In the last 6 years in the role at the not-for-profit organisation (NFP), she supports at risk young people in 6 independent special assistance schools across NSW. She also runs the SOLAR Program, a hybrid delivery program for at risk young people which she founded in 2021.
She feels honoured to work in an environment where she puts her principles into practice every day for the benefit of her students and the broader community. Amy said, “I have the privilege of walking alongside exceptional people each day (students, families, and staff) to collaboratively strengthen the communities in which they live”.
Hope, for herself and her students, is the key to a vocation that presents as many challenges as rewards. And Amy is something of an authority on hope, ‘Unveiling Pedagogical Opportunities for Hope’ is the title of her current PhD thesis.
She works hard to provide Youth Off The Streets students, who often battle severe disadvantage that presents major barriers to their participation in education, with an accepting environment.
Her goal is to produce innovative lessons and programs to inspire curiosity and joyful learning among her students, paving the way for them to gain a holistic education, a hopeful future and a confident, successful life ahead.
“For the young people I work with at Youth Off The Streets, I hope I can open their eyes to a world beyond the one they live in. I hope they can say ‘I am loved’, ‘I can succeed’, ‘I have power to make decisions’ and ‘I have a purpose in my life’.”
Her academic endeavours, alongside 23 years of teaching experience, are integral to her current work applying the latest research to Youth Off The Street’s unique education model and wellbeing practices. Amy is a nationally certified Highly Accomplished teacher. Her understanding of evidence-based practice informs the training and mentorship she provides to the NFP’s dedicated teachers and, most importantly, their students’ educational outcomes.
For Amy, when asked about the moments when her hopes become real, the small wins often mean the most.
“When a student with long-term school refusal walks through the classroom door, or a student pulls back their hoodie from their face and smiles, or a student proudly shares their work with their carer, or a parent trusts the school enough to ring and ask for support, or a colleague uses a strategy in their classroom that they observed in yours – that’s when you know you’re making an impact.”
Celebrate a teacher in your local community by adding them to the NSW Teaching Gems map:
