The dedicated educator has made her mark on the school community. Most recently she taught the school’s gifted and talented class; then there’s her contribution to hockey and her willingness to embrace technology and change.

It was a tough decision for the veteran teacher, who has chosen to pursue her interests in her Limousin cattle stud and to help out with the family business.

After beginning her teaching career in the Riverina area, she has worked at Tamworth Public School for more than 30-years and says she is now teaching the children of her former students.

Mrs Clifton takes pride in being the first teacher at the school to take possession of a smart board, some ten years ago, and believes advances in technology have paved the way for more efficient teaching.

“I love my job, but I have a lot of interests outside of school.

“Our family is very busy and I feel that something has to give and I’m going to retire while I’m still really enjoying teaching and I’m not being shoved out the door in a wheelbarrow.

“I’ve had a wonderful career, for many years I have taught the gifted and talented class and that has allowed me to do a lot of kids teaching kids projects, a lot of debating and science – I’ve seen kids grow in confidence and I love engaging them.”

Mrs Clifton said, in her time, she has seen a lot of changes, from using ‘jellypads’ to copy worksheets before photocopiers, to the removal of blackboards.

“They say a lot has changed, I think teaching has become easier with all the technology and you’re able to prepare lessons very quickly because you’re able to have access to teachers across the world,” she said.

“As when I first started it was hard yakka, you had to do a lot of reading and everything had to be prepared beforehand and now you can do it very quickly with the smart boards and technology.” Mrs Clifton said she will miss the children and her colleagues.