John Eade Retires After 50 Years

After 55 years in education, much admired teacher, John Eade, has decided to call it a day. Teaching took John all over Queensland, but it was his love of the Burdekin that saw John finish up the last seven years at St. Francis Primary School in Ayr.

He went to Teachers College in 1969, before teaching in various locations including Stafford Heights, Burketown, Richmond, Townsville, and finally Home Hill.

“After college, my first year was really good. That was at Stafford Heights, where I could just jump the fence, and I was there. The second year was up at Burketown, and that was an experience and a half,” John reflects.

“When I first started, I remember the classroom had one light bulb and no fans, and summer was really, really hot. Then we got air conditioners!”

“I went to Heatley Primary in Townsville, but my wife and I wanted to return back here, so I taught at Home Hill Primary for a number of years.

After Home Hill, John served as Principal at Maidavale State School for 15 years when he “first retired”. But a love of teaching grew too strong, and he returned to relief teaching, which saw him cover large areas of Queensland, including up to Cape York, before finishing his education career at St Francis Primary School here in Ayr, where he has been for the last seven years.

“Heatley was a big school at that time, with some 1200 students. That was a really good experience. I was there for seven years. After that, I put in for district relief at Home Hill, where for three years my area included Bloomsbury down south near Mackay, right up to the tip of Cape York. I then spent 21 years at Home Hill State School,” John says.

From there, John went to Maidavale State School for 15 years, where he was the Principal but also a teacher and taught Prep to Year seven.

“That's where my first retirement occurred. It was pretty wearing doing the principal’s job and teaching seven classes.”

A relatively unknown fact, John is actually his second name. And his first name? ‘Stanley!’ This is only known to a few. People have always been surprised when they find out, according to John.

“Put it this way, some people get a shock when they work it out, which not many do. But the ones that really seem to figure it out are the kids, and then they say, ‘So your name is Stanley? That's funny’ they say,” John laughs.

Not done with teaching, John went on supply, where for two years he had teaching jobs in Townsville, before he got a contract with St Francis for two days a week.

“I thought, oh, that's better. I can stay at home in Home Hill. Well, two days developed into three days a week, and then into permanent, only ending last week. In 2024, I think my body was telling me it's time, as I’ve had two operations this year,” he says.

John plans to stay registered for supply work if he feels the calling again, but right now, he’s focused on hiking and walking, with his great love of the outdoors finally winning out.

“Being in nature or a park, it just brings it back to Earth and what's important in life,” he concludes.

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John Eade with a special, hand drawn retirement gift given by his students. Photo credit: Mark T. Rasmussen

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