In her first year of teaching Modern History to year 12 students at Sunnybank State High School (SSHS), beginning teacher Laetitia Leach found herself faced with a challenge: some of her students did not share her enthusiasm for the subject. To make her lessons interesting, relevant and attention-holding, Ms Leach structures lessons that require students to be active participants in their own learning, whether it be mock Twitter exchanges between historical figures or debate-style lessons that inspire enthusiastic discussion.

“One of my tried-and-true methods is a historical debate. It gives students a common goal and allows them to tap into their competitiveness, while flexing their creativity,” she said.

Not only did these activities improve student recall and retrieval of information, but also their appetite for the subject. At the end of the year, 100% of her students achieved A-C grades overall.

In addition to academic success, Ms Leach’s commitment to her students includes mindset shifting and wellbeing work, supported by her philosophy that 'imperfection is a part of success'.

This was evident in her Year 8 English class, which had a variety of learning needs and complex behaviour issues. After identifying the need for scaffolded learning support and self-regulation development, she stepped into action.

“Students must not fear failure if they want to succeed,” said Ms Leach, who has spent a lot of time modelling how to identify and respond to mistakes effectively.

In this time, the class A-C achievement range increased from 61% to 68%.

As a beginning teacher, Laetitia reached out to individual teachers from these schools to conduct one-one-one moderation to improve her assessment and curriculum knowledge, connecting with teachers from Macgregor State High School, Balmoral State School, and Clayfield College.

Laetitia also co-facilitated a Youth in Queensland Media Academy project with her English Head of Department, where students take part in weekly webinars that teach them the skills to write their own news stories.

“It has been incredibly professionally rewarding to support and work with students dedicated to sharing their voice on current issues in Queensland,” she said.

Now in her second year of teaching, the future looks bright for Ms Leach and her students.

“At the end of the day I want my students to leave my classroom excited by the knowledge they have gained and empowered by the fact that they have contributed to that knowledge.”

Ms Leach is a finalist at the Queensland College of Teachers TEACHX Awards, in the Excellence in Beginning to Teach category.

Winners will be announced October 27th, on the eve of World Teachers' Day in Queensland.