About Rae

I finally get to say I have recently completed my Masters in Education in Teacher Librarianship. It took me 4 1/2 years and I lived a lot with 'sweaty brain', which happens when we are challenged with our learning, but I am pleased to say that I have learnt a lot, both personally and professionally in that time.

 

I currently live in the Shoalhaven with my husband, Chris, and our black lab-x-kelpie Ollie. Our son, 25, lives with us and works part-time as an SLSO at the primary school he attended while studying part-time to become a primary school teacher. Our daughter, 22, and her girlfriend live in Melbourne, and she has just completed a degree in criminology and psychological science.

 

I was a primary school teacher pre-kids and last studied Primary Education in the late 80’s at Wollongong Uni: saying that out loud makes me realise how long ago that is! In the 90’s I spent several years living and working overseas as a primary school teacher in expat communities in Saudi Arabia and Norway, then living in Malaysia. As a family we have always loved books, in fact, we have bookshelves in 7 rooms in our house, including all the bedrooms!

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I work in a NSW public primary school as a school admin officer in the library. The teacher-librarian who I work with has always encouraged me to see myself as a partner, not an assistant. I enjoy my time in the library so much that I volunteer another couple of days a fortnight in my happy space. In 2023 I recertified my teaching accreditation with NESA and so now I cover for my TL when they are off participating in their other love, organising school sporting events. 

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I’m what you would call a work in progress when it comes to technology. I look forward to the day when I can say to the students, ‘Actually, I do know how to do that and would you like me to teach you’ rather than saying ‘Who can show me what to do?’. My skills in this area have improved dramatically over the past 4 years and I now have enough confidence to help others and suggest apps they might find useful.

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I am passionate about, LBTQI representation in children's literature (my favourite read of 2023 was Jamie), and learning more about First Nations cultures, so much so that I nominated myself to be part of the Indigenous Education team at my school.

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