Leppington Public School principal retiring after more than 50 years teaching

Christine Easther has made an impact on so many lives in her 52 years as a teacher, but it's finally time for her to call it a day.

The 74-year-old Leppington Public principal is retiring this week and taking a well-deserved break.

Mrs Easther said it had only just started to dawn on her that her retirement was actually here.

"It feels a bit surreal," she said.

"On Monday I drove into the school and there were signs on the fence saying 'happy retirement'. I thought 'who's retiring?', but then I realised it was for me!

"Now there's a notice on the electronic sign as well, 'Farewell Mrs Easther'. It's finally become real.

"Lots of parents have spoken to me and kids have come up. One little girl said, 'are you crying Mrs Easther?', and when I said no she said I should be because it's sad.

"But I'm excited, I'm thinking of what else I can do and what other opportunities are out there for me - maybe some travel?"

Mrs Easther started at Leppington in October of 2013 as a teaching principal.

The Mount Annan resident said the school had changed dramatically in just that short period of time.

"When I first started here there were only four classes, which grew to 19 classes last year," Mrs Easther said.

"That shrunk to 10 this year when Denham Court Public School opened.

"The whole area is expanding so much."

And it's not just Leppington Public School that has changed - the entire approach to teaching is different.

Mrs Easther always knew she wanted to be a teacher, and when she was unable to secure a scholarship after finishing her HSC, she travelled to Tasmania to study teaching.

There she met her husband and had their children, before moving back home to NSW in 1989.

"I taught at Cobbitty Public School then for around 30 years before I decided to branch out and do a few other things," Mrs Easther said.

"I was a literacy consultant for a year, going around to different schools, then I became what was called a 'highly accomplished teacher' at Austral Public School for two years.

"In 52 years I have seen so many changes in education and it's a really exciting time now.

"The way children are taught these days is so different to when I started, and it allows for individuality and differentiation according to student needs.

"That's the best thing - when I started teaching it was a one size fits all approach, which is not the best way to go about things."

Mrs Easther encouraged others with a passion for chasing a career in education to follow their dream and work hard towards it.