Bathurst High supporting new 'Grow Your Own' initiative for teachers

Bathurst High principal Ken Barwick said the 'Grow Your Own' program hits the nail on the head and he is confident it will be a success.

"The best way to get kids into schools is show them exactly what schools are all about," Mr Barwick said.

"A school learning support officer gets paid really good money and to do that in their first year out of school and think about a career in teaching and then get support through university, I couldn't think of a smarter idea."

Zoe Peters was the 2021 Bathurst High school captain and is planning on returning after graduation to give back to the school and the Department of Education.

Though Miss Peters is not part of the 'Grow Your Own' program, which is set to be piloted in several regional schools in 2022, she will represent the idea of what the program is about.

Miss Peters is undecided about what she wants to pursue as a career in the future and hopes the 12-month stint as a school learning support officer [SLSO] will help point her in the right direction.

"I've got some interesting university offers so far that are very, very different and I think the next year will be really good to cement that and see what I'd like to do in the coming years," she said.

Former Bathurst High student Nick Broes has just finished two terms as an SLSO and thinks the 'Grow Your Own' initiative is really exciting.

Mr Broes graduated in 2019 and did not think teaching would be the career path he went down.

But after gaining an insight into the world of education, he plans to begin studying at university next year and said the experience was a great help in determining whether teaching was a good fit for him.

Deputy Premier Paul Toole said the program is set to strengthen the pipeline of quality teachers in regional communities.

Mr Toole said it's an innovative way to attract good quality teachers for the future.

"This initiative about 'growing your own' is an opportunity for young people to be able to stay here in our communities, to be able to live here, work here and to be able to have a career in teaching," he said.

"What I always admire is the incredible commitment that is given by our teachers and the hard work that they do in trying to promote good quality learning for young people so that [they] have a very strong start up in life."

The schools participating in the teacher recruitment initiative next year are still to be identified.

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