New teacher profile | Olivia Kerwick starts at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Molong

Teaching the composite class of Year 5/6 for 2023, Orange's 23-year-old Olivia Kerwick has fast become a favourite among the small town Joey's kids already.

One of her students, 11 year old Tate Bunting says he was looking forward to meeting his new teacher before the term started and was excited to get back to school.

"I reckon [Miss Kerwick is] one of the best teachers we've ever had because she's really kind and she changes our learning up with all kinds of different subjects, I think that keeps it interesting," Tate said.

"She's very understanding and wants to get to know us better because she asked us to write down our favourite things we liked, so I think it shows the class that she cares about us a lot.

"And it's cool to have a new teacher because it's something different ... I already feel like it's going to be a great year."

After graduating from Bathurst's Charles Sturt University in 2022 with a Bachelor of K-12 Education, English major Miss Kerwick's hit the ground running in her first official week.

Bringing an upbeat energy and go-getter attitude to the classroom from day dot, it's her aim to mirror qualities that the most memorable educators imprinted on her.

"I've been taught by some incredibly caring and inspiring people," Miss Kerwick said.

"So I hope to motivate my students by being a positive role model, instilling a growth mindset in them, being inspirational and involving them in everything I can.

"I was inspired by some of my own teachers and I wanted to have that impact on my own students [and] I want to make that difference to the lives of the students I teach and make learning engaging for them."

Accepting the teaching role at Joey's was a choice Miss Kerwick made due to the school's smaller class sizes, saying its close involvement with parents and the community was a strong selling point.

She believes these factors will give her the best chance to build close bonds with the children there, supporting them to achieve their academic and personal goals.

Quietly confident that this approach will help the Year 5/6 kids shine, Miss Kerwick is already looking a few steps ahead.

" I think people would describe me as a positive person who is dedicated and wants the best for their students," she said.

"My hopes are to see them reach their fullest potential in each of the key learning areas in the classroom and to set them up well for their transition into secondary school."

The new teacher's best memories from her own schooling days are the friendships she made, along with the excursions she went on.

Though some of the lesser known things about Miss Kerwick is that she's also an avid baker of "all-things sweet" and a keen gym-goer in her spare time.

Outside of family members, she chose British author J.K. Rowling as someone she finds influential - inspired by the writer's imagination and literary skills.

With the introduction of Olivia Kerwick and a second addition to lead Year 2, Sabrina Curr, Joey's principal Matthew French says the duo's presence has already got the community excited.

"Olivia and Sabrina are young teachers who bring a wonderful enthusiasm to our school, in and out of the classroom," Mr French said.

"They have fresh new ideas which they are bringing to their students and the children in Year 2 and Year 5/6 are loving having bright young teachers for the 2023 school year."

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