Patrick Rahilly and Margie Crowther with their awards of recognition of five and seven years respectively.
Two Canowindra Primary Ethics teachers were recently recognised for several years of service at local schools. Margie Crowther and Patrick Rahilly have been delivering the program for the past seven and five years respectively.
Primary Ethics is a program vetted by the Department of Education. Over 55,000 students in NSW attend Primary Ethics classes weekly where they practice skills relating to ethical reasoning, critical thinking and respectful discussion.
Topics are designed to match the age group of the class and there is never a totally right or totally wrong answer. Some examples of the topics include, ‘Changing Your Mind’, ‘Pride’, ‘Understanding Diversity’.
Patrick and Margie were clear that the program is pre-scripted and all Primary Ethics teachers are completely impartial when presenting the material to the class. Most Ethics teachers are motivated to teach the program because it makes such a difference to students’ confidence.
The program has been running in NSW public schools since 2011 and in Canowindra since 2015. Currently there are three Primary Ethics Teachers locally: Margie Crowther, Patrick Rahilly and Alan Hyde.
More volunteers are needed to ensure the ongoing delivery of this popular program. Margie would like to encourage more people to consider this role locally. “It takes approximately one hour per week for 30 weeks each year and currently helps about 100 local students in their confidence and thinking skills,” said Margie.