In this episode, you’ll meet Sarah, an assistant principal in a NSW public school, who you may know on Instagram as @teacherishappy.

Sarah dives into her love of being a primary school teacher, her leadership journey and how the teaching profession has allowed her to express her passion for creativity and the creative arts. For Sarah, this has been through becoming involved in extracurricular activities, the ability to be flexible in creating engaging resources and content for the classroom, and the opportunity to tap into an even wider teacher audience via social media.

Not having close teacher friends or family throughout university, Instagram became a platform for Sarah to make professional connections, discuss all things teaching and brainstorm ideas. As her audience grew, Sarah moved to YouTube to create longer-form videos and lifestyle content, showcasing more of how she works on achieving work/life balance.

We explore with Sarah the important concept of teacher identity. She shares her advice for how beginning teachers can achieve a healthy and sustainable distinction between their professional and personal identities while navigating life inside and outside of the classroom.We hope you enjoy this episode.

We acknowledge that this episode of the Teach NSW Podcast was recorded on the homelands of the Darug people. We pay respect to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples listening to the Teach NSW Podcast today. 

Connect with us

If you would like to provide feedback or suggestions for future episodes, please contact teachnsw@det.nsw.edu.au to get in touch with the Teach NSW Podcast team. Follow the Teach NSW team on Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter) and YouTube to be the first to know when new episodes are released.

Resources and useful links

• Teach NSW - Become a teacher in a NSW public school and find out how a career in teaching can open doors for you.


• Supervising teachers - learn more about how you can support pre-service teachers undertaking their professional experience placements as a supervising teacher.


• Performance and Development Plan (PDP) - learn more about the PDP, an internal NSW Department of Education resource for current teachers to build on foundation skills and develop a pathway for career growth.


• Statewide Staffrooms - connect and share advice, resources and learnings with other teachers in NSW public schools.