Known for her passion, focus and her bright colours, Heather Nixon has been working at St Philip’s Christian College for more than half her life. This means that Heather is now teaching the children of students she once taught, a claim few can make! We caught up with Heather, who shared the joy it has been seeing ideas and prayers become reality, and watching the College grow and expand. But more than the growth of the school, Heather’s passion for the growth of her students shone through in our time together. 

I’ve been at SPCC Newcastle for...29 years

During that time, I have...worked in Years 2 – 4, worked as part of the Junior School executive team and for the past 4 years have been in the role of Assistant Head of Junior School.

I am still here after 29 years because...I really believe in Christian Education. I am so thankful to work somewhere where I have the freedom to speak about Jesus. I love that every day I can come in and start the day in prayer and share with students how much they are loved. The opportunity to feed positivity and truth into children, to combat what they may be hearing from the world. I also love working in such an innovative and creative environment that provides opportunities for children to express themselves creatively.

My best experience at SPCC... The choir trips to Sydney from 1995 onwards for more than a decade with Pam and Di Garred. These were such a great experience, we would take Years 3 – 6 and had the best time, helping with everything from performance to hair. I particularly remember the performance at the Town Hall where our choir with Pam’s guidance,  held the sweetest note for what seemed like eternity and everyone in the room was in tears. Such an amazing performance.  It was incredible to sing with 300 other students, with the beautiful pipe organ playing in behind. 

A great memory I have from SPCC is...Camps! Balcolyn Crusaders Camp for Years 3 and 4. Taking kids for their first school camp was such a special opportunity to support them through different challenges. There is nothing like camping with 84 Year 4 students - you are in, boots and all, and it is so rewarding to see the kids grow in confidence and do things they haven’t before. I think in 29 years I have been to 25, which is impressive.

Today I’m motivated/inspired by…so many people…. Lea Rule and her desire to develop inspiring educational opportunities for every student, Marinda Barkley and her passion and creativity as a teacher and faith mentor to me personally, Josh Irwin for his passion to make learning exciting and fun, both for the students and his colleagues, Paul Wellham for his amazing support and encouragement as he walked beside me and cultivated my desire, passion, and skills to serve in a leadership role, Lizzie Moir for her warm and caring leadership and encouragement to me personally, and Pam O’Dea for her faithfulness in serving Jesus in Christian education and her desire to create amazing musicals the norm in our school.

At school, I am famous for... my hair – watch it through the years and it hasn’t changed! But also, my love for teaching art and students responding with some amazing artworks and providing opportunities for creative expression.

My greatest achievement is... being involved in the Discovery Learning program – it was a phenomenal opportunity to take learning to a new level. It was during a time when student-centred learning wasn’t the standard and was based on the ideas of looking at opportunities that spark interest. It was amazing to see the success of that program, to see students inspired by project-based learning and have fond memories of this time many years later.

The best piece of advice I ever received... Find a mentor and be in situations where you can collaborate with them and have them journey with you and pray with you. Learn from those who have gone before you and don’t feel like you have to know it all.