Mrs Kate Holdman was a Physiotherapist for 15 years before she decided to become a teacher in 2009. This is Mrs Holdman’s ninth year at the School and last year, she completed a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership. Mrs Holdman talks about why she decided to become a teacher, what she loves most about it and her recent completion of the Master’s Degree.

I spent the first 15 years of my working career as a Physiotherapist. Although I enjoyed my time in the profession, after I had my children I wanted a more family friendly career. Not having family in Bunbury, I found school holidays and after school really stressful for my girls who did not like day care and after school care options.

I had spent a lot of time as a Physiotherapist working within schools for the Disability Services Commission and loved being in the school environment, so I decided that I would retrain to become a teacher. This meant I could spend more time with my girls, so I completed a Graduate Diploma in Primary Education in 2009 and began teaching full-time in 2010. I have not regretted it for a moment.

As a child, I was fortunate enough to go to Methodist Ladies’ College for the entirety of my schooling, and so the independent private system was very familiar to me. My daughters were already enrolled at Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School when I applied for my position, and the more I researched the School and the education philosophy and ethos, the more I felt I had found my people! This is my ninth year at the School and I could not be happier here.

I find being a primary educator the most fulfilling job. I love the fact that I am also continually learning as I aim to keep the learning program challenging and engaging for students. I love the energy students bring to their learning; the lightbulb moments when things make sense for the first time and the thirst for wanting to know more when they are engaged and interested..

I love it when I see students achieve success when they found something challenging and the joy in their face when you say “I am proud of you!” I enjoy helping students become confident learners and giving them the skills and confidence to back themselves and have a go; try things out of their comfort zone and to not give up if they make mistakes. Many marvelous inventions are the by-products of mistakes!

I have always loved learning and never shied away from opportunities presented to me. At the beginning of 2017, I was offered a place in the Association of Independent Schools of Western Australia’s Educational Leadership course that would contribute to the completion of the first unit in a Master of Educational Leadership in collaboration with UWA. I decided that it would be a good opportunity to start some further study, which I had been considering for some time. So I started in 2017 and continued on to complete the Master’s Degree at the end of 2019.

With great difficulty, I juggled my studies while being a teacher at the same time. I am a very organised person and am also very disciplined when I have a long list of things to do. At times it was quite challenging, especially when reports and assignments were due at the same time. However, I always tackled assignments early and did not leave anything to the last minute, so was able to effectively time manage and prioritise to make the stress manageable. Whilst at the time it was very busy, I am glad I completed it. I also factored in down time by playing golf and going to the gym and rewarded myself with a holiday when I had finished!