5 minute read
Farewell, Mrs West-McInnes
St Peters Springfield will bid farewell to its enthusiastic and vibrant founding staff member and inaugural Head of Primary, Mrs WestMcInnes, at the end of 2022, after 15 years of dedicated service to our College. It has been interesting to hear the story of Mrs West-McInnes’ journey in education, which spans 33 years...
NATALIE HOUSTON Springfield principal Mrs West-McInnes’ earliest memories of wanting to be a teacher occurred when she was about five years old. She played ‘schools’ with her brother under the tank stand. She was always the teacher and her brother was the lucky student! When Mrs West-McInnes moved into formal schooling, she found that she loved learning and worked hard to achieve high marks, always being up for a challenge. A memory of Year 3 was learning the Lord’s Prayer in Religious Instruction and being the first one to achieve this. Even though Mrs West-McInnes attended five different schools around Queensland in her Primary and Secondary Years, she had some wonderful teachers who made school a happy, engaging place to be. It was these teachers who were important role models in her decision to go into teaching. Mrs West-McInnes recalls: “I knew I wanted to be in a profession that helped people, where you had lots of personal connections and made a difference in a community. At university, I realised I had a passion for supporting young children in their learning and chose the Preschool strand within the Primary course. Each child was like a puzzle and you had to observe and understand their individual differences to put the pieces together to ensure the learning in the classroom catered for their interests.” Mrs West-McInnes also loved that in Preschool and Prep teaching you get to interact with parents before and after school to develop relationships and further understand each child. Mrs West-McInnes has been teaching in a full-time capacity for 33 years—seven years with Education Queensland and 26 years in Lutheran Education. Her early career was in three Brisbane schools where she taught Preschool and then in a western Queensland school where she taught Prep and Year 1. After being transferred to a small western Queensland town in her early teaching career, Mrs West-McInnes recalls arriving to find out that her living quarters were a mobile home as she was the only female teacher in the school at that time. She remembers: “It was a good size with a bedroom, kitchen, dining and lounge with an annexe that was full of redback spiders. In those first days, the smell from the bore water was terrible. Those first day memories soon faded as I became part of the school and local community for three years. I also met my husband in my first months out there which was a blessing; we celebrate our 40th anniversary in 2023.” After having three children, Mrs West-McInnes spent 10 years away from full-time teaching, working as a relief teacher as well as two years part-time lecturing and tutoring in Early Childhood studies at Kangaroo Point TAFE. In 1997, Mrs West-McInnes went back into full-time teaching at a Lutheran School in the western suburbs of Brisbane where she stayed for 11 years. In 2007, after meeting with Ms Jill Lange-Mohr, Founding Principal of St Peters Springfield, Mrs West-McInnes decided to make the change to St Peters Lutheran College Springfield as a Founding staff member. Mrs West-McInnes says: “It has been a privilege to serve in Lutheran Education for 26 years to develop the hearts and minds of so many young people.” Lutheran Education and worship have been important to Mrs West-McInnes’ family as her three children attended a Lutheran Primary school and then St Peters Lutheran College Indooroopilly for their Secondary Years. Mrs West-McInnes was also baptised
Pictured (clockwise from left):
Mrs West-McInnes with one of her Prep students on their 100th day; with Tiernan Neil (2020) in 2015; and again, in Prep in 2008 (Tiernan is back row,left); Mrs West-McInnes as the Queen of Hearts during Book Week.
and confirmed in the Lutheran faith so having connections with Lutheran schools has furthered her commitment to Lutheran theology. Where is Mrs West-McInnes heading next? She is looking forward to taking time to walk, bike ride, gym during day time hours, reading a book without having to continually go back to what she has read before, complete photo books that have been on hold for a few years and enjoying more time with " her husband, children, six grandchildren and mother. She will also be getting away on some trips that were delayed from 2019 due to health and COVID. Mrs West-McInnes says: “There will be other opportunities out there in retirement that I don’t know about yet but I know that God has plans for me as I leave St Peters Springfield after an exciting and sometimes challenging teaching and leading role.” Reflecting on her career in education, Mrs WestMcInnes believes that developing relationships with students, fellow educators, professionals and parents to understand each child and support them in the best way possible has been the highlight of her time. “Every day is different and I love problem solving to ensure each student is happy at school. Instilling values in each educational setting I have taught in— showing kindness, teaching that names are important, welcoming new families to school communities and being respectful to others, has also been important to me.” Mrs West-McInnes has been an exemplary leader of the Primary Years students and staff at St Peters Springfield, has served in the role of Acting Principal when required and has been a well-loved Prep teacher over many years. She has shown care, dignity and respect, and her favourite word, 'kindness', as she has shared her many Godgiven talents and abilities with our community. St Peters will dearly miss Mrs West-McInnes and we wish her God’s richest blessings as she retires and heads off on new adventures.
