Allycia's five years at Maleny State High School culminated in the end of year Graduation and Awards Ceremony where she received the Community Service Award. We moved to Maleny to make a new home for ourselves and begin the High School chapter of Allycia's life. It was a risk to make the move and be a little further away from the life we had built in Brisbane, but it has been a rewarding time, watching her grow and become part of a school community where we were able to enjoy the generosity of educators committed to her learning and moving as and when we needed to, to meet Allycia's particular needs. We accessed specialised education supports alongside Frances Kildey and Cheryl Farley - two unique women with a wealth of knowledge, experience and intuition. Allycia's Dance Teacher, the incomparable Cath Grey modified the theory side of the curriculum so that Allycia could continue to do Dance as a Board Subject and complete five years alongside her peers. There is little doubt in my mind that without the advocacy and passion these three women surrounded Alllycia with, that she would have been able to achieve as well as she did, nor had nearly as much fun. I managed to catch "The Award Moment" here on my phone.
I too had a farewell towards the end of 2013 saying goodbye to CSQTC (now GPTQ) after six years with the team. Beautiful flowers and words from my valued colleagues left me pretty teary and grateful to have enjoyed many milestones and achievements as part of a team dedicated to delivering quality education and training to Junior Doctors and General Practice Registrars. In Australia our GPs are our front line and often times our life line when it comes to the particular needs of our children. We look to them for guidance and advice and when we find our "right fit" we build partnerships over a lifetime in the care of our most vulnerable. I have met some mighty individuals along the way and see a future filled with hope when I have seen first hand, the calibre and quality of the GP Supervisors teaching the next generation and the commitment and passion of new emerging practitioners.