TheHallowian-2021Vol2 - Flipbook - Page 44
Dorothy McIntyre (Murphy)
Recollections of a devoted teacher by
a loving son
More than anything, Mum’s father wanted all his girls
(Dorothy, Helen and Colleen) to complete Senior, and
All Hallows’ made that possible. Mum told me she
always knew she wanted to be a teacher and thanks
to her All Hallows’ education she was able to go to
Teacher’s College and pursue her chosen career.
After just one year of Teacher’s College training at
Kelvin Grove, Dorothy, and her AHS friends Judy Jordan
and Gwenyth Cutler (Barns), was sent into the primary
school classrooms. It is almost impossible to imagine
being put in charge of a classroom when you are not
even 20 years old and have only a year’s training - they
were certainly thrown in the deep end!
Mum started her teaching career at Petrie Terrace State
School and when she turned 21, became eligible for
country service.
She was first sent to be the sole teacher at Tandar State
School (near Gympie) and then to a four-teacher school
at Kalkie (outside Bundaberg) for three years.
After completing country service, she returned to
Brisbane and taught at Indooroopilly State School until
the early 1970’s (when I was born.) According to my
mother, students at Indooroopilly were frequently
tested on spelling and multiplication, and a teacher
never knew when the headmaster might pop down to
the classroom to keep an eye on the students’ progress.
Teaching was never just a 9 o’clock to 3 o’clock, 40
weeks a year role for Mum. Every evening she prepared
the next day’s lessons, and planning for the upcoming
term began well before the end of the school holidays.
Mum returned to full-time teaching at Oxley State
School in 1983 and commenced her final posting,
teaching Grade 2 at Ironside State School in 1990.
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The Hallowian | 2021
It was wonderful that her dedication was recognised
by Education Queensland on World Teachers’ Day 2000
with a Golden Apple Award for her contribution to
education.
Even when she retired around 2003 after 40 years of
full-time service, she remained involved at Ironside for
many years after, and would visit the school to help out
the Grade 2 teachers a few days a week.
Although she did not have any granddaughters, I know
that, had there been any, she would have loved them
to attend All Hallows’. She took great pride in seeing
the School’s strong academic performance (and was
happy to remind me of it when AHS had outperformed
Terrace.) She was so delighted that Colleen’s
granddaughters went to All Hallows’.
But the most important legacy from Mum’s time at All
Hallows’ was her friendship with Gwenyth and Judy –
they were at AHS together, trained as teachers together
and remained firm friends for almost 70 years.
As told by Dorothy’s only son, James McIntyre.