Bathurst's Aunty Amanda Toomey named Dreamtime Awards Educator of the Year

Amanda Toomey, or "Aunty" as she is known to the children at Towri MACS, was announced as the winner of the prestigious award at a presentation evening held at Star City on the weekend.

The award is open to an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander academic or teacher that has demonstrated a commitment to improving the education needs for Aboriginal students and or enhancing their own academic credentials to work more effectively in their chosen field.

Ms Toomey said she was "shocked to win" and said "she would much rather not have the attention on her".

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She said since she was announced as the winner she has had "so many messages and calls" and thanked everyone for their kind words.

"I really love what I do, and I do it for the kids, and I will continue to do it for the kids. Without them this award would not be possible," she said.

Ms Toomey said she draws inspiration from her late mum, Roma who also worked in education, teaching Indigenous students at Collarenebri School as an Aboriginal Education Assistant.

She said her mum "put the idea into her head" as a young girl about the importance of education and positive role models, and it always stayed with her.

She said it is something her mum also shared with her siblings, Tyrone became a psychologist after finishing school, while her brother Scott also works in education.

Ms Toomey said it was for this reason 30-years-ago after finishing school, Amanda moved to Bathurst to study initially a tertiary preparation certificate, which was then followed by a Diploma of Education at Mitchell College.

She started at Towri MACS 26 years ago, and has remained with the educational centre ever since.

Ms Toomey said she has loved every minute she has spent teaching, and is now working with the next generation of children.

"I'm teaching the kids of the kids I taught when I first started here," she said.

She said it's all thanks to her mum she has such a strong love for education.

"Who knows, you might end up changing one kids life. One day one of these kids might grow up to be a teacher, and who knows, I may be a small reason why they have made that decision," she said.

At the end of the day she said she works with kids because she "loves it."

"For me it's not about the accolades, I do what I do because I really do love it here," she said.