These three woman have a combined 120 years of teaching experience.
Iramoo Primary School principal Moira Findlay, assistant principal Nella Cascone and Nella’s cousin, an assistant principal at Cambridge Primary School, also named Nella Cascone, have each notched up 40 years of service with the education department.
Ms Findlay, who came to Iramoo as assistant principal in 1993 and became principal in 1997, said she had never imagined being anything else.
“From the time I was very little, I wanted to be a teacher,” she said. “I was a little migrant girl from Scotland and nobody in my family had ever even been to secondary school, let alone to university.
“I was very lucky to have scholarships and things along the way because my parents wouldn’t have been able to afford it.
“It’s one of the reasons I’m very passionate about education because it’s what’s given me opportunities in life, opportunities I never would have had. And I would like the same thing for the children in this school and in this area, that they will have … choices in life.”
Her assistant principal, Ms Cascone, said she and her cousin had come from a long line of teachers, so it was no surprise when the pair both graduated from Deakin University. She started teaching at a primary school in StAlbans and has been at Iramoo for more than 20 years.
“Teaching is such a busy, demanding and rewarding occupation. It must be the only occupation where you are dealing with 30 clients all at once.”
Her cousin started out at Altona East Primary School as a grade five teacher of 35 pupils.
Ms Cascone has spent the past 19 years as assistant principal at Cambridge Primary School, and works alongside some former students.
“The strongest memories I have … is when you teach children and then many, many years later, as adults, they come back and visit. That warms my heart.”
