Gail Batman has recently retired from ethics volunteering, having given 11 years as a teacher and then coordinator after retiring from work. Gail is one of our many unsung heroes, quietly and diligently bringing ethics lessons to children in public schools. Here is her story – thank you for a great effort Gail.

Gail’s story: I have completed 11 years since starting with Primary Ethics.

I’d been living in Canberra but was closely following the battle to get the ethics program introduced in NSW schools.  When I moved back to Sydney, my niece asked me to help out when she started ethics at Panania Public School (a southern Sydney suburb). I was retired and looking for a volunteer opportunity and I very much supported the ethics program, so I signed up. I transferred to Clemton Park (several kilometres away) when my elder granddaughter started school and subsequently saw both my granddaughters through the primary years until they moved to Melbourne some years ago.

As a grandparent, this has given me a wonderful connection to my grandchildren; I knew their teachers, their friends and the rhythm of their school year.

When I attended school events, I knew so many children from past ethics classes and watched them perform, compete and receive awards with great pleasure. Walking through the school grounds, I was greeted by many cries of “Hello, Mrs Batman” and sometimes had to nimbly avoid being hugged by a small child who was happy to see their old ethics teacher.

Becoming a coordinator: When the previous coordinator moved away, I took on the role of coordinator at Clemton Park as well. After a few years teaching, I had a good understanding of the school and apart from getting classes started at the beginning of the school year, it does not take much more time.  The biggest challenge is recruiting new teachers.

When my grandchildren moved to Melbourne, I continued teaching for a few more years but was struggling to hear well, so in recent years I was just coordinating. I have never felt I was a natural at teaching, but the Primary Ethics training and support is excellent and the lessons are very straightforward to deliver.

Over my years of volunteering in ethics, I think I must have taught both odds and even-year lessons of every stage.  So I’m very familiar with wombats, meerkats, caterpillars, whales, chimpanzees and the many other creatures that populate the Primary Ethics universe.

Older students: I particularly enjoyed teaching Stage 3. The topics are really interesting (homelessness, voting, equality, etc) and after four or five years of ethics classes you notice how much the students have developed their ability to discuss issues and express their views respectfully.