Casey Marshall is one of our brilliant Junior School teachers and is currently the Deputy Head of Junior School for Pastrol Care and Administration Haileybury City. In 2024 Casey taught the Year 2 cohort at City campus.  

What inspired you to become a teacher? 

In 2015, I moved to Ballarat to play basketball for the local team. As part of the program, the CEO at the time liked the players to be active members of the community, either by studying at a local university or working in town. Through a turn of events, I ended up working at the Ballarat Specialist School as a teacher’s aide, assisting students with a range of additional needs to access the curriculum. 

Within my first week, I had the privilege of working alongside a teacher in the Middle School. Each morning, the students would walk in from being dropped off, slowly walk to their classroom and enter. From the moment the students saw their teacher, however, their entire energy changed. Their smiles lit up the room, they suddenly began talking and laughing to one another, and the way they interacted with each other was incredible. 

The environment that teacher created in his classroom completely changed the students’ attitude and outlook. He created a safe and inclusive environment where students of all ability levels could learn, laugh, make mistakes and, most importantly, loved coming to every day. 

A year later, I started my Bachelor of Education in Primary Teaching. 

How do you create an engaging and inclusive classroom environment? 

Creating an engaging and inclusive environment changes dramatically each year as it is so dependent on the specific cohort. What I have done this year is different to last year and although some aspects will be similar for next year’s class, I am sure there will be some new ones as well. 

Two particular aspects that haven’t changed throughout my teaching career centre around care and focusing on the process, not the product, of learning. 

There is a popular saying in education, ‘Children don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.’ It only takes a lesson or two to realise this as some of the most pivotal breakthroughs have happened after a check in chat or after linking the weekly writing topic to a student’s weekend hobby. 

Through focusing on the process of learning, students learn the importance of making mistakes, persevering through challenges and the power of reflecting on their own growth. These behaviours highlight that every student (and teacher) is at school to learn.  

What is the most rewarding part of being a teacher? 

Without a doubt, the most rewarding part of being a teacher is seeing the incredible amount of growth each student achieves each year. Although it is often more obvious to see a child’s academic growth by looking through their book work or their assessment data, seeing the development in their social skills or how they navigate through challenges is similarly wonderful to see and an aspect that will assist them throughout their lives. 

What advice would you give to new or aspiring teachers? 

Despite it being called teaching, I feel it is so important to continue to be a student of the profession. Whether it is observing other teachers teach, looking at patterns within assessment data, talking to other teachers about specific issues or seeking feedback, each little area of growth made in one’s teaching practice is compounded throughout the following years.