Teaching lessons lasting a lifetime

FEBRUARY 2009
By Rebecca Perry

In classrooms across Queensland there are a lot of people called Isabelle - currently one of the most popular girls' names - but only one who is aged 80 and working as a teacher.

Isabelle Kearsley continues to teach at age 80

As Queensland's oldest state school educator, Isabelle Kearsley has seen plenty of changes during her long teaching career, such as finally finding her name in fashion.

'When I was at school, I wanted to be called "nice" names the other kids had, like Valma, Lorraine or Shirley,' Mrs Kearsley said.

Her passion for learning began as a child at the old Fortitude Valley Girls and Infants School, when she proved her Grade 1 teacher wrong by finding a word containing three vowels in a book about ducks.

'My teacher was unimpressed and gave me a whack around the legs,' she said.

Mrs Kearsley's dedication to teaching has helped thousands of young Queenslanders, after starting as a young teaching graduate at Holland Park State School in 1946 and later working across a host of specialties including gifted and talented children.

She taught at Rosewood State School, near Ipswich, for 25 years before a reluctant but compulsory retirement at the age of 65.

Isabelle is such a positive person to have around and both students and teachers appreciate her sharp mind.

But while you can take the school out of the teacher, it seems you can't take the teacher out of the school. After a break of 14 years Mrs Kearsley was asked to return to teaching at Rosewood in 2007 for a special project. 'I'm now working one on one with students who are struggling to meet benchmarks or need more personal attention,' Mrs Kearsley said.

As she looks forward to soon becoming a great-grandmother, the entire school - which also boasts a 70-year-old teacher - embraces the wisdom that comes with years of experience.

'Isabelle is such a positive person to have around and both students and teachers appreciate her sharp mind,' principal Sandy Christensen said.

'The value goes both ways, because she loves being here as much as we love having her.' And despite preparations to blow out 81 candles in July, Mrs Kearsley has no plans to hang up her teaching hat any time soon.

'I tutor students after school as well because I still feel that I have a lot more to give, and it is nice to think that I am making a difference to the lives of these children.'

To read profiles of other long-serving staff go to www.education.qld.gov.au/marketing/publication/edviews