Karen Suckling, who teaches at Lutheran School Wagga, has been awarded the ASG National Excellence in Teaching Award.

Ms Suckling was one of 1450 nominees for the awards, which have been running for 23 years.

“I try to keep updated with current educational trends and best practice. The classroom environments I work in now are very different from when I first began teaching,” Ms Suckling said.

“In the busy days of teaching life, I think finding moments to have fun and share ups and downs is important. I  enjoy being in the classroom and celebrating my students achievements.

“My mother was an educator for 45 years, so I grew up around teaching. I have taught in metropolitan and rural South Australia, rural and remote centres in the Northern Territory and now here in Wagga.

“Over the past two years I set myself a personal goal to enhance student learning achievement, in particular with a focus on increasing students reading and writing skills in the early years of primary school.”