The Assistant Principal and Maths teacher at Our Lady of Dolours Catholic School Chatswood, Kirsty Thorpe, was awarded the Premier’s Mathematical Association of NSW Scholarship for her passion in using Maths to solve creative problems.
Ms Thorpe will use the $10,000 grant to work with international maths gurus including Jo Boaler at Stanford University, whose seminal work on the positive mathematical mindset has been used in schools across the Diocese to reframe the way we teach Maths.
Ms Thorpe is excited at the prospect of being able to return from her study tour to work with teachers and parents in her school and other diocesan schools to enhance the creativity, resilience and perseverance of Maths students.
“I feel Maths can be a creative and problem-solving subject because children find deeper levels of success when they think critically and creatively about their problems,” she said.
Amy Gill, a former teacher at Mercy Catholic College Chatswood, was awarded a Highly Accomplished Teacher by the NSW Government.
Ms Gill knows the Diocese as both teacher and student, as she attended St John’s Narraweena and St Mary’s Toukley and St Peter’s Tuggerah for her own schooling.
She worked at Mercy from 2013 until leaving this year for a unique opportunity to teach at alternative school The Lakes College: Youth Off The Streets on the Central Coast.
Ms Gill’s family have seen three generations at Broken Bay schools, as her two daughters attend St Patrick’s Asquith and Mercy, and her mother also went to Mercy.
“The Broken Bay Diocese holds a very special place in my heart,” she said. “It is where I began my love of learning and school.”