Praise for teachers on World Teacher’s Day

A Sydney Morning Herald story featuring Navitas English teacher Camilla Portela has given people an opportunity to thank Western Sydney’s teachers for their “heroic” efforts during the pandemic.

The story, about Ms Portela going beyond immediate duties to support students in need, attracted dozens of comments from the community, all but one of which praised teachers for keeping students safe, informed and motivated during the COVID-19 lockdown.

On World Teacher’s Day, celebrated in Australia today, we publish some of those comments and thank our Navitas English teachers – and teachers everywhere – for a job well done.

Sian: “So grateful for all the educators who have gone above and beyond during this pandemic. Thank you.”

VeeKay: “So many people are quick to define some of our sporting stars as ‘heroes’ – a much overused word in that context. Heroes to me are those who go above and beyond for the good of people other than themselves. Ms Portela and all of the other ‘unsung’ heroes in this article are the true heroes in my mind.”

Girl Friday: “Great work Camilla and other teachers and staff and community members who looked after these bewildered children doing it tough, often on their own.”

LBW: “Thank you for that heart-warming story. It is wonderful to read how teachers and others have gone above and beyond to support their students and the local community. Everyone wins. Let’s remember these people when it comes to nominations for Australia Day honours.”

Orchard: “How heartening to hear about this! And I’m sure there are many more unsung heroes out there who have put their own lives on hold to help others in difficulty. Gratitude and admiration to you all! Thank goodness there are people like Ms Portela – she reminds us that our society is perhaps not so broken after all.”

Augiemarch: “Teaching is all about relationships, not NAPLAN results, not HSC scores, not place in class or grade, not scoring A, B, C, D or E. It is about the relationship students have with their teachers and their peers.”

Ella: “I want to say thank you to Camilla and to all the other teachers and school staff who have provided such outstanding support for students during these times. Teachers are never appreciated enough for what they do but this is really going above and beyond. I am glad those students had such caring teachers to help them get through lockdown.”

You can read the full story and comments here, or our own feature on Camilla Portela here.

Notice: On 1 December 2021, Navitas English changed its name to Navitas Skilled Futures. This name change reflects our programs, the focus of our work, and our positive impact on the people we serve. Find out more here.