Meet the Staff
Introducing Mrs Nicola Spackman
Burrendong Dam was built on the Macquarie River, flooding the land my family farmed, hence my family moved to a small country town and started a business. Life growing up in a small town meant lots of adventures, travel, lots of community functions and lots of sport. I loved camping, playing cards, water-skiing, playing basketball, netball, football and tennis. Life in Crookwell, a small rural town, reminds me of my early years growing up.
Dad is 91, living in Dubbo with my sister. My sister and brothers have homes on the Sunshine Coast. When retirement finally comes for me, I will look forward to holidays with them all! My brother is part owner of a pub in Tasmania and in the coming weeks, I am excited to have the opportunity to take a small amount of Long Service Leave, driving my 91-year-old father to visit him.
Travelling, like teaching and family, are my passions!
When younger, I was lucky enough to be selected as an AFS exchange student, spending a year in the USA, beginning a lifetime love of travelling and developing a strong bond with my host family. I returned overseas 6 years later, travelling the world, visiting amazing places & meeting the most wonderful people. Again in 2016, I was able to travel to the UK and Europe visiting & travelling with family members to see my daughter, who was living in London. One of my sons spent 2018 living in London, providing me with another excuse to travel with my youngest son.
Passionate about teaching, my teaching career began at St Raphael’s in Cowra. Following three happy years in Cowra, I travelled overseas again for a year.
Returning to Australia in my 20’s, having exhausted my money supply, I accepted a teaching position in Dubbo. Dubbo was followed by a teaching stint in Sydney. Meeting Gerald, we commenced our married life in the central west, in Parkes. Andrew and Michael were both born while living in Parkes. I continued teaching at Red Bend Catholic College in Forbes and teaching at both the Catholic and state schools in Parkes.
We moved to Crookwell in 1995, buying into a local business, allowing Gerald to move home and we welcomed Emily, Luke and Sam into our family. Our 5 children completed their early school years at St Mary’s, followed by high school at Trinity and although scattered around Australia remain the centre of my universe. I am grateful to both school communities for the well-rounded education they provided and I am immensely proud of all of my children.
Andrew is an auto-electrician & has his own Machine Maintenance business in Goulburn, Michael is an engineer in Sydney working on the facade of a number of well-known constructions. Emily is currently completing her PhD while working for Melbourne University and Stanford University on a research project on Autism. Luke is in his final year at Brisbane University studying engineering and has commenced a cadetship with a company in Brisbane. Sam is enjoying a building apprenticeship with a local family here in Crookwell and is a great asset to us on the farm. We love having him at home.
I commenced teaching at St Mary’s in 1998 and during this time I have taught part-time and full-time in a number of different positions. Learning and classroom support became an area of interest and specialisation as our community became more inclusive, accepting and understanding of the additional needs of others. I love my job and I absolutely love working with your children… those needing support and those needing enrichment. As teachers, we become very attached to your children and miss them when they go. We are very lucky at St Mary’s to have very dedicated and experienced teachers working hard to provide the best care and education for your children.
I have the best job in the world!