By Sophia Ljaskevic

This article was published by the Loreto Sisters and includes a link to a video on their website.

Dr Jane Wright, teacher at Loreto College Marryatville in South Australia, has won the prestigious Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools.

Dr Wright is currently Science Coordinator at Loreto College and has a long history in the teaching profession. Recent career highlights include being named the National winner of the BHP Billiton Science Teacher Award in 2010 and being awarded Honorary Life Membership of the South Australian Science Teachers Association (SASTA).

Dr Wright was nominated for the Prime Minister’s Prize by a colleague, Ms Jan Althorpe, a former Executive Director of the Australian Science Teachers Association.

Jane always harboured aspirations to become a teacher. “I’ve always enjoyed the idea of teaching. I actually found one of my essays that I wrote when I was a kid where I said I wanted to be a teacher.” At the time, she was thinking of being a history teacher.
However, after graduating with an honours degree in zoology at the University of Adelaide, she enrolled in a PhD and completed a postdoctoral fellowship with a view to teaching at the tertiary level. When she wasn’t rewarded with a position at the university, she decided to go for a job in a school to gain experience, before trying again.

Her first teaching position was at Loreto, and she’s been there ever since. “I think school teaching is fantastic. And I just love teaching here so much that I never even looked at another school, let alone back at the university.”

“It’s not just about teaching the students science, it’s actually being part of their lives. When my first Year 8 class graduated from Year 12, I felt a real sense of achievement which has never left. It’s about developing their thought processes, and watching them grow up.”

And grow up they have. “I have had a number of emails from ex-students telling me about what they are doing. We’ve had girls go on to do PhDs in neuroscience, and many are pursuing careers in medicine and dentistry.”

Information sourced from the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research website and Loreto Marryatville media release 13 October 2011.