Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is my honour to rise today and speak about one of my constituents, Mrs Paula Wiley of Beaconsfield, who is having a profound impact on the lives of young children at the school where she teaches, Bannister Creek Primary School. At a breakfast ceremony on 2 December 2013, Paula was named the WA Premier's Early Childhood Teacher of the Year, for her keen focus on the social and emotional wellbeing of the children in both her kindergarten and pre-primary classes and for her ability to develop children in all areas. In the words of the word judge, Dr Christine Howitt:

Paula demonstrates respectful, thoughtful and authentic consideration of each child in her class. She has genuine conversations with them, listening to their ideas and actively encouraging them to have a voice, make their own decisions, and be in control of their own learning.

Helping children develop in their early school years is critical to their educational and social achievements later in life, not least through building a positive attitude to learning. Paula combines her knowledge of child development to reassure and support parents, while making her classroom a place of trust, safety and fairness. As Bannister Creek principal, Marie Hand, has said:

Students are bursting with excitement at the end of each day to share with their parents what they have achieved in class.

The award comes as no surprise to Paula's family who, in secretly preparing the nomination, listed her achievements and the endeavours that have led Paula to this pinnacle. Having already successfully completed high school earlier in life, Paula undertook to do what few others would contemplate: she repeated year 12 many years later just to assess her capacity to study while juggling family responsibilities. A general exhibition in English and human biology for year 12 was a result of that self-assessment and proof that this teacher has both a love of and aptitude for learning. With her 2002 Bachelor of Education with honours would also come the Mensaros Prize as the education student who achieved the best overall results and the World Fellowship Prize for academic excellence.

Although a latecomer to teaching, Paula's caring nature was evident in every thing she had previously done. Earlier in her career Paula worked as a nursing assistant at Lady Lawley Cottage, a private Red Cross hospital which provides respite care for families with disabled children. When Paula was raising her own young family, she took a part-time position at the Cerebral Palsy Association of Western Australia. It was while guiding her own three children through their schooling that Paula learnt about the vital role that teachers play in children's lives and discovered her own interest in teaching children. From that interest grew a passion and commitment that is now benefiting every child fortunate enough to call Mrs Wylie his or her first teacher.

I take this opportunity to congratulate Paula Wiley for her achievement and to recognise the work of all early childhood educators. We must do more to support educators like Paula, including through the provision of fair pay and conditions, because, in the words of Benjamin Disraeli:

Upon the education of the people of this country the fate of this country depends.