Ideas to help you celebrate and thank your teacher on
World Teachers' Day
STICKERS - Please note that stickers are no longer available. Wear a World Teachers’ Day sticker to show your support for the valuable role that teachers play in the community all year round. The College has produced a World Teachers’ Day sticker that is available free to WA schools and to businesses that support World Teachers’ Day by offering teacher discounts and special incentives on the day, 30 October. Kambalda West District High School will use the stickers on certificates that will be given to all teachers in conjunction with the day's celebrations. The stickers are rectangular and 12cm wide by 3.5cm high. Click here to see an image.
MORNING TEA - Put on morning tea for teachers at your school with healthy, homemade cakes, freshly-baked cookies and scrumptious scones. Children can help out in the kitchen the night before World Teachers' Day. Executive director of the Parents and Friends' Federation Laurie Eastwood, a College Board member, urges P&F Associations, parent councils, school boards and other community groups to be involved in World Teachers' Day. "Hosting a morning tea for teachers would be a great way for members of these groups to band together to recognise the valuable contributions of their school's teachers." he says. "Even if you can't get away from work on the day, you could still contribute to the celebration by baking a cake or some scones and sending them in to school with your child. No doubt parents and P&F Associations can think of many other ways to recognise and celebrate the contributions made by teachers to their students' development, for example, through the annual NeiTA (National Excellence in Teaching Awards) process."
BLOG IT - The Department of Education and Training has set up a blog where students and parents can write a blog post thanking their teacher for making a difference. To thank your teacher online, go to http://wtdau.edublogs.org
LETTERS - Write a letter of thanks, the good old fashioned way, with a pen and paper, to a teacher who has made a difference to your life or the lives of your children. Teachers agree that good teaching is its own reward but World Teachers’ Day is a great time to express your appreciation to an inspirational teacher. While you might be long gone from the classroom, think back to your school days and remember a teacher who made a world of difference in your life. Why not try to track them down and let them know how you are going and about the difference they made to you. The College maintains a public register of teachers that can help you find Western Australian-registered teachers. Alternatively, you might try the College’s counterparts in other states [links]. And there’s always Google, Facebook, MySpace and Bebo.
BANNERS - Make a banner. Art students and other creative types can make and decorate the banner with a message such as Celebrating our teachers or even, simply, Thanks, teachers! Keep the banner under wraps until 30 October and then put it up in a prominent place in the school.
HAT DAY- Hats off to Clarkson Primary School P & C for hitting on the idea of celebrating World Teachers’ Day last year by asking students to 'Wear Your Favourite Hat to School' . Executive P&C committee member Sharon Kidd said the idea had been to depict the number of different hats that teachers wore on a day-to-day basis. It was an impressive sight. There are about 800 students and 100 staff on the school's two campuses. As well as their favourite hats, they also wore the College's World Teachers' Day stickers. Student councillors designed posters for the Favourite Hat Day and P&C members decorated the staffrooms at each campus. Why not borrow their idea and celebrate with a Hat Day at your school this World Teachers' Day?
PORTRAIT GALLERY - Paint portraits of your teachers and display them in your school on World Teachers' Day. Last year, the College received about 500 entries in its World Teachers' Day portrait competition for Kindergarten to Year 6 students and the winning entries, runners up and some other eye-catchers can be seen here. Kensington Primary School submitted an amazing 141 entries. The portraits were returned to students who submitted them and many of the schools used them for special exhibitions on World Teachers' Day 2008. Bull Creek Primary School exhibited its inspiring competition entries at an assembly on World Teachers' Day.
MAKE NEWS - Let your community know about World Teachers' Day. Tell your local newspaper or radio station how your school is planning to celebrate the day and invite them along to cover it. You may need to provide 'talent' (interview subjects) for radio, either via telephone or in the studio. Last year, ABC Kimberley aired listeners' stories and recollections about their favourite teacher on World Teachers' Day. ABC North West took calls from listeners about their memories of teachers who made a world of difference to them.
THANKS, MERCI, TERIMA KASIH - Survey your school to find out in how many different languages you can say "thank you" to your teachers. Ask each student who can speak a different language to contribute the word "thank you" in their native tongue or a second language that they speak. Compile these into a book or make a chain of thanks to decorate the classroom. We've started the ball rolling with English, French and Bahasa Indonesia/Malay. How many other languages can you add?
BREAKFAST - Stage a breakfast celebration for teachers to kick off World Teachers' Day. Staff at Ellen Stirling Primary School, a new school in Ellenbrook, sat down to breakfast together in the morning before a World Teachers' Day assembly last year. Students at the school were encouraged to bring a flower or thank you card to show their appreciation for their teachers on the day. And everyone - staff and students - wore the College's World Teachers' Day stickers.
SUNDOWNER - Organise a sundowner for teachers at your school or in your school district. In an incredible show of support for the teaching profession last year, the North West Shelf Venture hosted a "Thankyou to our teachers" sundowner in Karratha on World Teachers' Day. All classroom teachers and their partners from Karratha, Wickham, Dampier and Roebourne were invited to take part and were transferred by charter coach to and from the event at the Karratha International Hotel. About 400 guests attended, all of them wearing the College’s World Teachers’ Day stickers. The NWSV is Australia's biggest resource development and the partners are BHP Billiton, BP, Chevron, MIMI, Shell and Woodside and the sundowner is part of NWSV's $3 million Karratha Education Initiative. Plans are afoot for a similar event this year. More details will be posted at a later date.
LIBRARY DISPLAY - Make a World Teachers' Day display in your school library, just like the staff at Trinity College's library did last year. The librarians also wore the College's World Teachers' Day stickers on the day.