Trudy Bartlett
The Dr Joe McCorley OAM Outstanding Contribution to School Community Award
At Marsden State High School in Logan, teacher Trudy Bartlett has made it her mission to ensure neurodiverse and LGBTQIA+ students have every opportunity to succeed and feel a strong sense of belonging in the school community.
Ms Bartlett’s passion for inclusion, which stems from her own diagnoses, led her to design a strengths-based program for students with autism, facilitate the True Colours M Line, a LGBTQIA+ and Allies group for junior school students, organise the ENABLE Special Education Sports Day and the Wear It Purple Day for her school community.
“Representation is important because students can’t be what they can’t see. They need to see that people have walked in their shoes and come out the other side,” she said.
“That’s why I disclose my diagnosis of autism and ADHD, as well as being a proud gay woman.”
Ms Bartlett designed a program after identifying several students who were unaware of what autism was, despite their own diagnosis. It identified individual traits and sensory profiles, highlighted a strengths-based approach to their school experience and role modelled self-advocacy, allowing them to become more capable of backing their needs.
“If we look at the student with a strengths-based model, we can use these strengths in their educational journey,” she said.
To better support the LGBTQIA+ students, she also facilitated the True Colours M Line, a LGBTQIA+ and Allies group for junior school students - a safe space where students can be their authentic selves and use preferred names and pronouns.
“The more we teachers do these things, the more acceptance there will be, and maybe one day it just becomes a part of the classroom,” she said.
“I case-managed an autistic student who identified as trans and didn’t feel like they belonged at our school, so I approached the admin team about celebrating the day to show this student and others in the LGBTQIA+ community that we see them and support them,” she said.
After four years, it is now the school's biggest event, attracting outside agencies to help celebrate.
Among countless other activities, she organised and hosted the ENABLE Special Education Sports Day, where over 120 students with disabilities from surrounding schools participated in a variety of sports, facilitated by state sporting organisations representing futsal, tennis, netball and AFL. In addition, she ran a futsal tournament with members of the Queensland Athletes with Disabilities Futsal Team.
Her dedication to inclusion also benefits staff, as she engages with communities externally and then presents her experience and insights in Professional Development workshops for beginning teachers so they can practice inclusive classroom strategies.
“It’s totally okay to ask for help. We were all beginning teachers once upon a time and we too reached out for support when we needed it. Teaching is a profession that works better when we work together,” she said.
Trudy has also been widely acknowledged for her advocacy in the broader education community, having published work in journals, being interviewed for multiple panel discussion and Education Queensland's YouTube channel, and being seconded to QUT to develop a professional development program for teachers.
Ms Bartlett is a finalist at the Queensland College of Teachers TEACHX Awards, in the Outstanding Contribution to School Community category.
Winners will be announced October 27th, on the eve of World Teachers’ Day in Queensland.