Source : Perth Now news
A popular Mandurah teacher is up for one of WA’s top teaching awards for driving an innovative pilot program that’s improving early intervention and health outcomes for kids.
But North Mandurah Primary School teacher Joanne Sadler was reluctant to take full credit for the success of the unique program.
“I might be the driver of some of this hard work, but I believe it’s a team effort to get to where we are with the children,” Ms Sadler told the Times.
About nine years ago, Ms Sadler took on the role of learning support co-ordinator and helping students with autism transition into mainstream classes.
As part of this, she began to investigate the barriers that could make learning harder for some students.
“I realised that it wasn’t just classroom structures and classroom processes and lessons, it was going well beyond the classroom,” Ms Sadler said.
“I put out my feelers and talked to medical professionals, and I met up with a paediatric nurse practitioner, and she and I put together a pilot project, helping families receive medical help that they had not previously been able to access for their kids.
“It’s now a program called Early Steps Forward.
“We’ve got paediatric nurse practitioners who come on site and our families can access services at school in a safe environment, which is familiar to them.
“That support then helps with referrals for any extra medical help they may require.”
Access to the paediatric nurse practitioner isn’t just for neurodiverse children either.
“Any child, whether they’ve got a diagnosis or not, anyone that’s struggling, the paediatric nurse practitioners are here for all students, little ones from two years old,” Ms Sadler said.
“It doesn’t matter, they’re able to access the support.”
Ms Sadler is now one of four WA teachers up for the Minister’s Teacher of the Year award at the 2026 WA Education Awards.
But the award doesn’t seem to matter to Ms Sadler, who was shocked by the nomination.
Supporting students is at the core of everything the passionate teacher does.
“As a whole school, we’re trying to put in a whole lot of support to make sure that school is a really safe, welcoming environment for kids, so that the obstacles to learning are removed for them,” she said.
“If they’re feeling safe, if they’re being fed, if they’re not feeling vulnerable, then of course it’s much easier for them to access their education that day.”
This means when North Mandurah students enter the classroom at the start of the day, they join the morning circle.
In it, teachers are checking in to see how the kids are feeling emotionally, if they had time for breakfast and need something to eat, or if they need a little extra support that day.
“Most of our students actually love coming to school,” Ms Sadler said.
“They know it’s their safe place. They know the teachers have got their back. They know that we are all about getting them the help that they need.
“They’re not frightened to say if they need help anymore.”
The program has resulted in a complete 180 for some students.
“We’ve had students that couldn’t engage, were completely shut down, wouldn’t be part of a classroom, couldn’t spend time in the room, and were overwhelmed with all sorts of things, to now being fully engaged, being excited about school, not having meltdowns at home,” Ms Sadler said.
“We’ve got lots of families coming to us and saying ‘Oh, it’s just so much easier to have conversations with my child now. It’s so much better getting them to school’.
“So we’ve had quite a few success stories.”
Mandurah’s Ocean Road Primary School is also up for an award for excellence in cultural responsiveness, while Oakwood Primary School has been nominated for two: excellence in early childhood education and excellence in teaching and learning (primary).
Award winners will be announced in November.
