Volunteering - Primary Ethics

11 years in ethics: Gail’s story

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.

I have at times been, surprised, impressed and occasionally bewildered by things that my classes have said and done, but I am completely convinced that it has been worthwhile for all of us.

Gail Batman

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.

Find out more about volunteering as an ethics coordinator >

All about ethics lessons: webinars

We run regular one-hour webinars for anyone interested to find out more about what happens in ethics lessons or about volunteering with us.

In the webinar, you’ll be able to participate in a demo lesson to see our teaching style in action, hear first-hand from current ethics volunteers, hear about what impact ethics lessons have on children, plus all about our comprehensive free training and what’s involved in volunteering with us.

Click on an image for any session below to register.

Find out more about ethics volunteering

Five rules for ethics coordinators

Kate Sawtschuk uses the five discussion rules to anchor her to the basics of her role as an ethics team coordinator.

Coordinators are a vital part of our volunteer workforce – holding teams together, liaising with schools to get the lesson logistics right. Some coordinators don’t teach ethics themselves but enjoy the organisational side of things. If you’re interested or know an ace organizer, find out more.

Teaching ethics

I have been fortunate to have many bright and fulfilling moments in the classroom during my years as an ethics teacher:

– when an interesting topic thread engages students in passionate discussion

– when it clicks for a student who has displayed challenging behaviours in class

– when a quiet student tentatively puts up their hand to share their thoughts.

Coordinating ethics

In my time beyond the classroom as an ethics coordinator, where I strive to use and develop my own critical thinking and empathy, I have had some equally valuable insights and rewards.

The role of ethics coordinator is like being an ethics teacher but on a different scale of community development. Coordinators are the link between viewpoints of the school and volunteers, ultimately holding the potential to facilitate greater school and community cohesion.

As such, the trusty discussion rules for Years 1-6 which ethics teachers never leave home without are also an anchor point for me as an ethics coordinator in a large metropolitan Sydney primary school in a diverse community.

kate S team copy — Chloe, Rhiannon, Kate and Bo.

Using the 5 rules

The rules provide a helpful framework to support a collaborative relationship with the school and recruitment of and advocacy for the ethics teacher team, not to mention a reminder for us to go back to basics in our own personal development and behaviour!

Only one person speaks at a time.

Ethics coordinators liaise with school staff and volunteers. Usually, there is more than one perspective being expressed at once! If a coordinator can validate and understand individual viewpoints and act as a bridge, often they can be the one to set a tone of understanding and cooperation.

Pay attention to the person who is speaking.

We know that active listening maximises the ability to understand someone’s viewpoint and fosters respectful communication. This can help connect the coordinator’s own ideas to the school or volunteer perspective and enable them to fairly evaluate a situation.

Build on other people’s ideas.

Schools face many complex challenges today and must balance these in the provision of ethics classes. Collective brainstorming and compromise are important tools for coordinators in solving problems that arise.

Speak to other students, not just to the teacher.

Acquiring assorted viewpoints from others, such as those of various school staff, volunteers, Primary Ethics staff and the school community, can turn what seems like an isolated task into a shared experience and allow for analytical thinking.

No putdowns.

The capacity to disagree respectfully is a skill we all need to work on, especially when we feel our values are being threatened. Ethics teachers do not promote their own values in the classroom and nor do coordinators in their role, yet sometimes school decisions can be challenging. To best manage this, refer to the previous four discussion rules!

The impact and success of an ethics coordinator is built upon the astounding volunteer ethics teachers who make up the teams we are so proud to represent.

I am energised by my team’s altruistic capacity to bring about change and their heartfelt dedication and willingness to overcome obstacles in pursuit of this.

Kate Sawtschuk

Considering volunteering? I say go for it!

Rachel Linton has words of encouragement for anyone considering becoming an ethics volunteer – she says just ‘go for it’!

I first became aware of primary school ethics lessons around eight years ago, when my son was in kindergarten. Our school needed more ethics teachers and the ethics coordinator approached me to ask if I’d be interested in volunteering. I was curious to hear more, and after meeting with her, I was keen.

What first drew me in was the opportunity to talk to my son and his classmates about ethical issues – to help them think about what matters and how to act on those values. Outside of religious education, there aren’t many structured opportunities for having these kinds of conversations with children.

Life was busy at the time and it took another two years before I signed up and completed the process to become an ethics teacher. I’ve now been teaching for over five years.

I enjoy talking to the kids about ethical issues – that’s why I first signed up. But it’s more than that. I love being part of their world, hearing how they make sense of things, helping shape the way they engage with each other when discussing what’s right or wrong. This is my contribution to my local community and my way of being part of the life of the school.

I've also come to believe that the Primary Ethics program is doing something important in the world. It gives children a way to think critically about difficult issues, listen to different perspectives, build on others' ideas and disagree agreeably.

Rachel

The community of enquiry process is probably even more important than the content of what we discuss, because it helps children learn to engage thoughtfully, respectfully and collaboratively.

Not every lesson goes smoothly and sometimes the discussion might go over some kids’ heads. But I believe that participating in these conversations supports children’s development over time. A moment that stayed with me: in the end-of-year lesson last year, one of the boys in my class said that before ethics, he used to “just do things” — now he thinks about them first.

The ability to think critically and engage in constructive dialogue is needed now more than ever. So for anyone considering becoming a volunteer ethics teacher, I say go for it. It’s a wonderful way to contribute to your local school community and to the positive development of the next generation – and you might just find you love it too.

Why not join Rachel as a volunteer?

‘Crucial skills’: Ched’s volunteering story

Ched Smokovic believes ethics lessons give children “crucial skills” for the modern world. He’s in his seventh year of ethics volunteering at his children’s Sydney school.

Starting out…

My wife was reading Greenwich Public School newsletter, saw they were looking for volunteer ethics teachers and thought it would be a good change of pace for me – balancing the abstract corporate role I had at the time with a more down-to-earth, wholesome activity. It took a few nudges on her part, but looking back, she was absolutely right. As soon as I started reading about the Primary Ethics methods and goals, I found that it resonated with my deep beliefs on how children should be educated – by allowing them to think for themselves.

After I got in touch with the Primary Ethics regional coordinators, they explained the process, which seemed simple enough. I remember going to meet the coordinator for an interview, where we discussed my reasons for wanting to volunteer and my availability.

The online workshop that followed focused on the outcome – to have a well-behaved classroom that works as a team discussing the topic, thinking and broadening their minds. It covered everything from the Primary Ethics curriculum methods to behaviour management to working with children of different ages, child safety and support structure. The workshop was very thoughtfully prepared and delivered.

Six classes a week

I’ve been gradually increasing the number of classes I do every week. It started with two a week, covering just my kids’ classes, to now six a week – one high school class and five primary school classes, all spread over three days. My typical preparation consists of downloading the material from the Primary Ethics website and going through it the day before the class. The material is well written and describes in great detail how the class should be run, what the main points of discussion are, what is expected, how to run various activities, etc. It usually takes me 15-20 minutes per class to prepare.

In the class itself, we usually open by briefly reviewing the Discussion Rules (setting behaviour expectations such as ‘one person speaks at a time’) and then refreshing our memory on what was discussed last time. We then jump straight into each topic and tell a story or a scenario that we discuss and ask ethical questions around.

The curriculum covers a wide range of topics from fairness and justice, honesty and lying, friendship and loyalty, how we should treat animals, the environment, cheating, misinformation and what it means to be a member of society. What I find particularly well designed about the curriculum is that the topics are age-appropriate and relatable but never dumbed down.

Personal motivations

I started volunteering as I wanted to do my part for the community, wanted to get out of my comfort zone from a corporate role and, I admit, I was curious to see how my kids were doing at school and how different they are from the kids I know at home.

Although I do get most of those things, there is one thing I enjoy the most.

The best feeling by far is when I leave the classroom after an amazing discussion in which the kids brought up deep thoughtful points and novel ideas that never occurred to me and I leave feeling optimistic about their future.

Ched

What’s in it for the children?

I always saw Primary Ethics lessons as a chance to show the young ones the wide variety of scenarios they will inevitably encounter in their lives and ask them ‘what do you think? and ‘what would you do?’ and more importantly, ‘why?’ There’s been many a time that as soon as I ask for the reasons behind their opinion, I can clearly see the student assessing their world view and either coming up with a very strong argument for, or acknowledging to themselves and others that perhaps their original thought was not the best and the group discussion made them change their mind.

I believe these are crucial skills that the kids will need to manoeuvre their way through this modern world.

Ched

One time when we were talking about what’s fair and unfair in society, the consensus in the class was that the laws are already set and the government already has rules for these things so there was little point in discussing them. When I mentioned that government consists of people just like us and one day some of them might be in the government and might need to decide on things like these, the discussion completely shifted and broadened and it was great to hear their uninhibited thoughts.

Join Ched as an ethics volunteer!

Barry: A highlight of my week

For Seniors Week 2026, we asked some of our over-70 volunteers to tell us about their experience with us. There is no age limit to ethics volunteering – we have volunteers in their late 80s. At 73, Barry Richardson is in his eighth year of volunteering with Primary Ethics.

Barry’s experience

Eight years ago, I was transitioning to retirement, moving from a five-day working week to three days. I saw an advert for ethics teachers in our local community Gazette, teaching at our local primary school, Artarmon, which my now very grown-up children had attended many years ago. What a great way to give something back to our wonderful community.

I thoroughly enjoyed the training and meeting an eclectic group of people of varying ages, backgrounds, experience and interests. The training introduced me to some great new skillsets.

My first ethics lessons were exciting, sometimes challenging, but always fun. It was like going back to school myself, with all that that brings.

I have been lucky enough to teach all ages and stages, at one time taking three classes a day. I’ve met some wonderful other volunteer teachers from our local area, as well as the school staff. It is both enjoyable and rewarding to be involved with young, active minds engaged in critical thinking and to learn about respectful discussion.

Without doubt, my classes have been a highlight of my week.

Barry

I am now retired and have moved to the inner west, where I have transitioned to teaching ethics at the local high school. More challenges, but always fun and certainly rewarding.

I also relief teach at the local primary school which three of my grandchildren attend or have attended. Having moved to a new area after 40 years in Artarmon, ethics volunteering has been a great way to meet many people in the community through the local school.

You’re never too old to be an ethics teacher!

Find out more about ethics

Paul: In touch with the rising generation

For Seniors Week 2026, we asked some of our over-70 volunteers to tell us about their experience with us. There is no age limit to ethics volunteering. At 88, Paul Sowter is in his eleventh year of volunteering with Primary Ethics.

Paul’s experience

When I retired from casual teaching at age 75, my son alerted me to the existence of Primary Ethics. I enquired, did the training and suddenly I was a teacher of ethics at Normanhurst West Public School, on Sydney’s far north shore.

As a former schoolteacher, I was impressed by the approach: everyone in a circle, kids do the talking but only if they want to. What a safe haven for the shy! The feedback in that most valuable end-of-year lesson revealed the benefits students draw from the experience, particularly in personal growth.

And I found this: whichever stage I taught over the next 10 years in various schools. Primary Ethics keeps me in touch with the rising generation – their innocence and awareness of so many things about the world is a delight to observe. The lesson material, especially for stage 3, can be challenging – you can see it in their faces. And they respond, slowly, feeling their way, listening intently to what their peers are saying, building on the previous contributions.

I have also seen the courses themselves develop over the years. And yes, old as I now am, I too have developed. I only wish I could have applied what I’ve learnt from teaching ethics in my former career.

As my hearing worsens with advancing age, soft voices can be a challenge. I am now employing an app on my iphone to improve my reception through airpods. The kids like being the monitor who delivers the iphone to the chosen speaker!

Over the years I have developed my IT skills with frequent assistance from the wonderful helpdesk. I delight in the material from Kindergarten to stage 3, often taking me off into further study

Whenever I meet someone for the first time I unashamedly steer the conversation towards Primary Ethics. No one has ever disapproved. All express an interest.

At the time of writing, March 2026, the topic my stage 1 class is exploring is pride. The photo of me above shows my pride in my endeavours.

The photo to the right is not my class. It is the instinctive formation of a troop of gorillas when they realise their leader is dead.

Why not join Paul as an ethics volunteer in your local school?

William: Ethics volunteering is meaningful, valuable and satisfying

For Seniors Week 2026, we asked some of our over-70 volunteers to tell us about their experience with us. There is no age limit to ethics volunteering – our oldest volunteer is currently 88. At 81, William Rodwell is in his ninth year of volunteering with Primary Ethics.

William’s experience

As an 81-year-old, I think it very worthwhile to let my fellow seniors into a secret. For those of you with an inquiring mind and an interest in our grandchildren’s and hence our society’s future, there is something for you that’s even better than the events of the NSW Seniors Festival. And you can enjoy it every week! That’s being a volunteer ethics teacher in a NSW school. I am now in my ninth year of volunteering and it is undoubtedly my most rewarding weekly activity.

My proximate motivation for volunteering to teach ethics was to ensure that my grandsons had access to the Primary Ethics programme at their primary school. To me it also felt important to find a way to contribute to society after I was no longer doing that through work. The ethics programme provided a meaningful and valuable way to do so. My grandsons are now well beyond primary school but teaching ethics is so satisfying that I continue to teach at their former school and now also at other schools.

We volunteer ethics teachers believe that the Primary Ethics curriculum provides a unique opportunity for school students. It develops their moral sensibilities, including the capacity to empathise with others, consider other peoples’ points of view, be aware of the relevance of intentions and circumstances to ethical decisions, and so on. The emphasis on the students providing reasoned arguments for their ethical standpoints also develops their capacity for critical thinking. To me critical thinking is as valuable as the ethics component, as it is especially important in this age of false information – it provides students with the tools to distinguish specious arguments from valid ones. The structure of our lessons as collaborative enquiry also develops the students’ ability to work together to reach a collective understanding of the ethical issues under discussion. Importantly this does not mean they have to agree with each other, but they should understand other students’ points of view, which is so important in our contemporary polarised society.

The most consistent advice I see given to seniors to maximise health and wellbeing is to maintain their social engagement and mental stimulation.

Being a volunteer ethics teacher provides both. The kids’ openness to ideas, joie de vie and capacity to think seriously about quite demanding concepts is a joy to behold. I think this interaction with children and seeing the value of the ethics program for students is very rewarding. In addition, I find the syllabus we teach stimulating and thought-provoking for me, which adds to my enjoyment of the role and has contributed to my own philosophical development.

Moreover, the social engagement does not end with the students. A group of people prepared to contribute their time to teaching ethics – ie the other volunteers at my schools – constitutes a lovely, supportive and interesting community. As an old person it’s a treat to be involved in a group covering an age range from parents of Kindy children to long-retired persons like me. Who wants to be confined to old peoples’ groups where the conversation inevitably turns to ailments, infirmities and funerals? Not me!

Why not join William as a volunteer in your local school?

When I suggest to retired people that they would enjoy becoming a Primary Ethics teacher they often say something like “I could never manage a group of primary school kids; it’s too daunting”. I was also anxious about this at first. I had been volunteering in several roles at my grandsons’ school, so I knew I enjoyed interacting with the pupils, but that’s not the same thing as controlling a class. However, the students are not generally little demons itching to cause trouble – most are delightful. In addition, in most primary schools a regular teacher sits in the class to help with any behaviour management issues. They don’t contribute to the teaching itself, but their mere presence is enough in most cases to ensure that the class behaves and they are there to help if some students don’t behave.

My only regret about embarking on volunteer ethics teaching is that my personal circumstances prevented me from becoming involved earlier!

William

Helen: Primary Ethics and ‘senior’ me

For Seniors Week 2026, we asked some of our over-70 volunteers to tell us about their experience as ethics volunteers. There is no age limit to ethics volunteering – our oldest volunteer is currently 88. In her later-70s, Helen Kerr-Roubicek is in her eighth year of volunteering with Primary Ethics.

Helen’s experience

When I took that Primary Ethics pamphlet at the Drummoyne Primary School fete, I opened the door to a very stimulating volunteering adventure. That was around eight years ago and I was approaching 70. I had three granddaughters at the school. After I began volunteering, while we only shared limited time in ethics classes together, I enjoyed the fact they now saw me in a broader role in their school context. They have all moved on to high school but I’m still here – loving being the coordinator for Primary Ethics of a brilliant team of nine volunteer teachers.

Over those years I have always found my PE journey stimulating, because I am challenged to think deeply about the philosophy and research behind contemporary issues. These form the background to the curriculum that is set out for we teachers to follow and facilitate in lessons.

When people ask me ‘so what do you tell the kids?’, I delight in explaining that it is not about ‘telling’. It is a community of enquiry approach that encourages students to think together about topics such as fairness, disagreeing respectfully, screen time and understanding diversity. They develop their own ideas and become more confident in expressing those to others and giving reasons for why they think what they think. They develop skills in reflecting and listening to what others think and say. PE is open to all faiths and belief systems. Mutual respect is a very important underpinning value for the classroom discussions.

People also ask ‘what’s involved as a volunteer?’ Then I can’t wait to explain that the setup has many amazing strengths:

It is very economical timewise and the time commitment is predictable – after training, a teacher typically needs to download and read over a lesson a few times and print copies of any pictures or activities in preparation for the average 35-minute lesson each week. There is a quick online feedback process after each lesson.
PE is an organisation that provides professional layers of user-friendly training and support. The technical support for the Internet materials is very effective and makes it easy to be involved with only basic skills (which are bound to improve as well). There is also good classroom support if issues arise and if all else fails there is a helpdesk at the end of the phone to clarify direction. All this is provided free – it is not expensive to become involved.
Undoubtedly the most exciting aspect is the opportunity to have regular contact with young people, exploring day to day issues with them, hearing their ideas and having the opportunity to support their personal growth.

After three to four years, I was offered the opportunity to become the PE team coordinator for the school. I was reluctant at first, lacking confidence. This is a liaison role with the school on all relevant matters including the setting up (online) and management of classes. Actually it has turned out to be a perfect extension of my favourite professional roles – resource linking, mentoring, recruiting, team building and with limited administration. There is also plenty of support for this role. And the best thing – it’s time limited too! Setting up at the beginning of each year is the busiest time.

Helen third from right with other Drummoyne volunteers.

Our team is made up of a balance of retired older people who have a range of rich professional and community experiences, and keen parents of current students who keep us in touch with school news. We manage our team organisation through a Whatsapp group and look forward to catching up at our end of term dinners.

Over the past four years I have been through some tough times personally as I journeyed with my husband in his experience of serious illness until his recent death. The care and support from my team and the school- from offering to take my classes or other tasks, to being available for ‘debrief’ coffees and messages – have made a real difference for me. And the regular classes with bright, lively faces each week ready for another discussion have provided a structure activity in my week that has also been helpful.

The camaraderie with my team and the wider PE community, including my regional manager, has been incredibly rewarding and uplifting. I realise as I look back over the eight years that this community building is at the heart of my PE experience and it is so good to feel that the lessons we provide are assisting students to do that in their own worlds.

Have I just been lucky with my school and team members? Would it be different somewhere else? There is no doubt that I have been fortunate and I know that there are many influences on how PE functions in different schools, including critical issues like when it is timetabled and how supportive the school executive is. But it is my belief now, that the community of enquiry approach as an underpinning of this program is right for this time and resonates with young people, parents, teachers and community members. Why else would we have growing numbers in our classes and more volunteers to teach in such a busy world?

Why not join Helen as an ethics volunteer in your local school?