For more than 30 years Lynne Irvine has dedicated her career to making a difference to the lives of students.
The Mortdale resident has been a teacher, principal and held a number senior roles with the Department of Education.
For her achievements she has been awarded with a Public Service Medal in this years Queen’s Birthday honours.
Ms Irvine said she was blown away by the recognition.
‘’I was completely overwhelmed but really proud,’’ she said.
‘’It’s very humbling to be recognised by my colleagues.’’
She started teaching in the Riverina before returning to Sydney.
She was deputy principal and then principal at Sydney Technical High School in Bexley before taking on senior roles with the Department of Education.
She said stepping away from the classroom was difficult initially.
‘’It’s always hard to leave something you love,’’ she said.
‘’But moving on you can see the bigger picture.’’
She said teaching had always been a passion.
‘’I just love it,’’ she said.
‘’It’s the lightbulb moments when you see a just student get it.’’
During her career she has seen significant changes.
‘’Technology has been one of the biggest changes to public education,’’ she said.
‘’It’s had a huge impact but the leaders and teachers have adapted really well.’’
She is currently the Director of Learning Management and Business Reform Systems Deployment and led the successful delivery of the 2016 model of deployment to over 800 public schools.
She has also overseen the NSW secondary syllabuses, incorporating the Australian curriculum and implementing the Every Student Every School initiative.
She celebrated the medal over lunch with family and friends.