I wanted to be someone who made a difference, and I felt that working in a New South Wales public school was the best way to do that.

A career highlight so far has been the running of my mathematics Olympics which began with just two classes and has since spread to five schools across my region.

My career progression has been so supported. I have had so many opportunities to step forward into middle leadership roles. I also had the privilege of being able to spend the first 12 months of my son's life being his sole carer and building that connection with him. It was beautiful to be able to walk out of my classroom on my maternity leave and walk back in 12 months later. It was amazing to know that I had that job security to come back to.

The most rewarding part of my role is the students. They are the most beautiful and amazing people. To see them work their way through high school and then see them go off into the world makes my heart sing because [I am] just so proud that I got to be part of shaping that person to be the amazing person they are outside of school.

My name is Holly and I am a head teacher, mathematics in a NSW public school.