Nick’s mission to challenge low expectations

At Champion Bay Senior High School in Western Australia, it’s not unusual to find Nick Mozley still on school grounds long after the bell has rung.

Passionate about supporting students who need a little bit of extra encouragement, he regularly stays back each week to offer specialised maths tutoring.

“Teaching is tough – there’s never a week where I don’t get relief lessons and I’m exhausted at the end of each day,” Nick admits.

“But despite that, I’m genuinely happy with what I’m doing with my life. I’m personally fulfilled in a way I never was in my previous profession.”

Formerly a civil engineer, Nick’s journey to teaching began through community leadership.

As President of his local football club, he helped launch initiatives in the NAIDOC space, including introducing a First Nations round.

“I found my calling working with Indigenous youth, but I didn’t really know how to get more involved. Then my sister brought up Teach For Australia, where I could become a teacher in regional schools, and that’s what led me to apply.”

After completing the Teach For Australia’s two-year Leadership Development Program, Nick felt ready to take the next step in his career.

He remained at his original placement school having been promoted to Head of Maths – a progression he attributes to the project-based and problem-solving skills he developed through his engineering background.

“Engineering is essentially project work, and I’ve found teaching can be approached in a similar way. You can treat each school year like a big project – like restarting the Year eight maths program with a new cohort of students, where there’s a clear goal and key milestones to hit along the way,” Nick continues.

“I’ve always enjoyed leadership, and TFA prepared me well, not just in teaching, but in considering the bigger picture. That mindset made me feel equipped to take on the Head of Maths role.”

Nick’s leadership is driven by a deep sense of possibility for all his students, refusing to let low expectations that have plagued them define their potential.

“It’s so important to maintain high expectations of what students can achieve. You can get caught in staff culture, especially with those who’ve been around a while, using deficit language like, ‘they come from a rough background’ or ‘they’ve got too much going on.’ But it’s important to step back and ask, what does the data actually tell us? We could see there were real opportunities for students to do better, and when they are going backwards, we need to analyse why.”

Optimistic and focused, Nick is on a mission to grow a culture of high expectations through greater student support.

“When students achieve, they feel that success and that flows onto life skills and opportunities beyond school.”