AISNSW is dedicated to celebrating the incredible teachers who work in Independent schools across the state. This term we're highlighting Dana Dowker, Sumaia Elkadomi and Vicky Boyd.
Dana Dowker - Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School
Over the years, people who know her have commented that Dana Dowker would eventually find teaching as her vocation. Dana worked in support counselling as well as event and festival management before finally taking the leap into teaching, and she has not looked back!
Dana derives satisfaction from offering support to students and their families, who need tailored assistance and guidance. Her time teaching Year One at Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School allowed her to identify areas of greatest need and determine where her contributions could be most impactful.
It is Dana’s aim to guide students as they progress through school to know and understand their personal value and worth; encouraging them to take every available opportunity to become the best version of themselves. Dana encourages young teachers to view their students as individuals at the centre of the education process, striving to provide an open learning environment, working side-by-side and actively listening to what students need to thrive.
Jeremy Gooden, Head of Junior School, sees her connection to the community around her as Dana’s superpower. Her connectedness stems from being a parent and now teacher within the Lindisfarne community for 28 years. Her dedicated focus on the strength and power of relationships, her support and mentoring of peers, and a personal drive towards continued learning and improvement underscores the passion for learning she has. This has been evident as she developed from her classroom role to Learning Enrichment support and now leadership,
Dana has recently been appointed as the Dean of Students Junior School at Lindisfarne. According to Jeremy, this appointment appropriately acknowledges her strengths and her ability to drive positive growth and change for all students in the Junior School.
Jeremy believes Dana's ability to lead by example and her commitment to treating everyone with compassion and respect will enhance her impact in her new role. Her influence extends to students, their families, and colleagues within the community, supporting them throughout their time in the Junior School and beyond.
Sumaia Elkadomi - Australian International Academy of Education, Kellyville
According to Lubna Sayed, Principal of Australian International Academy Kellyville (AIA), Sumaia Elkadomi wears many hats. First and foremost, Sumaia is a teacher. She also helps develop future leaders through her coordination of the school’s Student Representative Council, and provides immeasurable support to all Secondary students and staff as the Student Wellbeing and Management Coordinator.
Lubna believes it is Sumaia’s empathy, understanding, and deep knowledge of all the students as individuals within a community of learners that makes her such an effective connector across all faculties and year groups at AIA. She works capably beside learners of all ages, provides advice and guidance to teachers through engaging professional dialogues, and works especially closely with the female students at AIA through their Sisterhood workshops as they navigate their world in and out of the classroom.
Sumaia wants to empower her learners with a sense of belief in their own capacities to find the path to what is success is for them. A personal formative learning experience came when, as a Year 10 student, she had the opportunity to work alongside a newly migrated classmate. The privilege she felt in being able to work with this student as they adjusted to life in a new country and school, allowed Sumaia to see the transformative power of education and the capacity teachers must make a difference in the lives of every student. Sumaia has seen again and again how the power having someone believe in them can transform the attitude of students towards their learning, and to themselves, especially through values-based education in a community such as the one at AIA.
Sumaia believes that an effective teacher is a reflective teacher, and she encourages beginning teachers to adopt this practice from the beginning of their career. She continuously models this adaptive, reflective learning approach to her students and peers. Her hope is that her students will enter the world ready to take on the challenge of being active, engaged members of society and advocates for social justice. Seeing this potential in her students, Sumaia works diligently with each individual learner to help them realise their personal goals and aspirations, but also look for ways to be aware, involved, and engaged with the world around them.
Vicky Boyd - Brigidine College, St Ives
When asked to sum up Vicky Boyd, her colleague Libby Goode noted that her professional passion and personal connectedness marks her commitments to her role as an educator. This also strengthens the relationships she forms with her students and colleagues, and connects her to the wider Brigidine community.
Always wanting to be a teacher, Vicky feels eternally fortunate to be able to not only indulge her deep and abiding thirst for knowledge and personal growth through learning, wishing to instill that passion in her students to spark their critical engagement with their own world. Libby notes that it is this very passion that inspires Vicky’s students to reach for ‘Personal Bests’ as they work towards being the best possible versions of themselves.
Proud to continue a family tradition, Vicky believes teaching allows educators of all ages to shape each student’s growth in meaningful ways, both during school and long after.
With relationships at the heart of all she does, Vicky feels that whilst there are challenges, it is the strengthening of these connections with students and colleagues that makes teaching the most rewarding of all professions. This is echoed by Libby, who sees the joy in the relationships Vicky builds with her peers and her students as the centre of everything she does.
As Year 8 Coordinator, Vicky has the opportunity to engage with a wide range of students across all areas of their school lives. Vicky’s involvement in debating, musicals, and outdoor camps reflects her commitment beyond the classroom. Libby describes her as the quintessential well-rounded educator, engaged in all aspects of college life. She leads by example, inspiring others to rise to their own potential while continually striving to meet the high standards she sets for herself on her journey of growth.
