Annette Frisken

Teaching and Learning Coordinator, Kingdom Culture Christian School

Having taught for over 40 years, Annette exemplifies the qualities of the quintessential educator who, in her own words, does not “just teach the subject, I teach children.” Her deep understanding of how children learn allows her to connect with her students as she challenges them to grow beyond their own expectations of what they can achieve. She helps them see the potential they have to thrive and succeed through hard work and dedication. 

Annette always felt called to be a teacher, loving the look in their eyes when they experience their personal “A-Ha!” moment. That sparks the joy for her in all she does. Originally training as a nurse, Annette draws on her life experiences as health care worker, a mother of four, and someone who worked closely with her husband in small business, to inform her teaching practices to ensure they are grounded in the real world, helping set her students up for life outside of the school gates.

Mrs Pavina Lee, Annette’s Principal and nominator, highlights that her impact on her students and her colleagues is underpinned by her capacity to connect with others in the staffroom, classroom and broader school community. She works with everyone to help them grow and develop their innate skills and talents, challenging them to do more than they had thought that they were capable of. It is this passion that drives her hope for the students that leave her classroom, that they continue to grow and develop their understanding of themselves, and what they can do to bring to the world what is truly good through the values of the school – Honour, Integrity, and Service.

Also working collaboratively with younger teachers as a guide and mentor, Annette advises early career teacher to be patient, to observe and collaborate with their peers to build their own strengths as a teacher. She hopes they will be prepared to fail in order to learn, and to never say that they are just a teacher. Annette lives her values and models for her students what she wants them to take into the world, curiosity, care and compassion for others acknowledging that she is with them as they journey together as companions in learning.