Four Maitland and Vacy teachers awarded esteemed HALT teacher accreditation

Rutherford Public School's Belinda Lantry, Rutherford High School's Teliah Buckton, Millers Forest Public School's Thomas Walker and Vacy Public School's Jamie-Ellen Corrigan are four of just 57 teachers across NSW who were awarded the accreditation on Friday, October 27.

The ceremony, which was held on World Teachers' Day at NSW Parliament House, celebrated the teachers' innovative teaching practices.

The teachers achieved the illustrious title for their work serving students, other teachers and their entire school communities.

Mrs Lantry has been teaching since 2008, and has been at Rutherford Public School since 2019.

She said she got into teaching because she has always loved kids, and that it's a role with purpose.

"Every day is different, you get so much out of it, seeing those little aha moments of kids and knowing that you've made an impact in society," she said.

For Mrs Lantry, becoming Highly Accomplish and Lead Teacher (HALT) accredited was a three year process, including submitting evidence on how she meets 37 different teaching standards, analysing data on the impact of her initiatives on the school, and being watched for a whole day to see how she teaches and interacts with students.

"It was a big job, a massive job but it allowed me to reflect on my own teaching practice and improve my teaching practice," she said.

Since pursuing the HALT accreditation, Mrs Lantry has gone from a classroom teacher to an assistant principal, and next year will become deputy principal.

NSW now has 338 HALT accredited teachers in classrooms and early childhood services across the state.

NSW Education Standards Authority chief executive officer Paul Martin said he is honoured to welcome the latest cohort of HALT accredited teachers, and celebrate their excellence.

"The World Teachers' Day campaign has clearly shown us that there are more teachers out there who demonstrate every day, that their practice aligns to the highest levels of accreditation," he said.

"I encourage more teachers to pursue HALT accreditation. We have streamlined the application process, so teachers are supported each step of the way.

"Congratulations to you all, today we honour your contribution to education and our communities."

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