Meet Mr Robert Wales
Mathematics Teacher

My career path to becoming a Maths teacher has been fairly linear when compared to others. I wasn’t quite sure at the beginning, but once I was in the classroom, I knew it was where I was supposed to be. Sometimes I think about other careers I may have chosen instead - a chippy? an engineer? an architect? Sure enough they are all maths related.

I have now been teaching for 23 years, wow time flies when you’re teaching maths. I have taught over 2000 students and have refined many of my maths puns. I love maths, I love teaching, I love learning, I love the relationships you build with students and most of all I love seeing the many light bulb moments students have in class when they ‘get it’.

Mathematics has been my rock, the thing I could always count on! I enjoy the beauty of numbers and I enjoy the problem solving side of mathematics. I should have known that I would end up in a mathematical career. If you have a passion for something it will always shine through.

I was 16 when I got my first job, working at Big W as a checkout operator. Back then there were no fancy scanners. I had to type in an eight digit code for every item purchased by shoppers, my pay was well earned at Christmas time. On the bright side I was working with numbers all day long!

A couple of years later I began working at Kmart as a night filler. I would go to university during the day and work at night. This got me through my entire first university degree. A Bachelor of Arts in Education, specialising in Mathematics of course.

At the completion of this degree, I began my career path to becoming a teacher, I was only 21, time to enter the real world. Wanting a change, I applied for rural teaching jobs in Western Australia and was hired by a small Catholic College in a little coal mining town 2.5hrs south of Perth. As many first-year teachers, I was thrown into the deep end having to teach Mathematics, Science, Outdoor Education and Computing.

After two years I was missing my family and friends, so I decided to move back to Perth where I gained a job at a Catholic College on the coast, our staffroom had ocean views and students could choose surfing as an elective. During the 8 years spent there I began to refine my teaching skills and was even more excited by the possibilities of making mathematics enjoyable and accessible to all.

Not being one who is afraid of change, I decided to see if I could really make a difference helping students with mathematics by starting my own business. I applied for a government grant, and to my surprise, got it. Homework Helpers was born. What a great time, working with students individually or in small groups to help them understand and access mathematics. I had five other passionate teachers working with me and we even ran a maths club after school, my dream.

Four years later the time came to move to the ACT. It was a sad day to say goodbye to the many students who were a part of Homework Helpers. What a great learning experience it was as it taught me a lot about how students learn and about the many different ways they view mathematics.

I take my hat off to anyone who runs their own business. It’s a lot of hard work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Don’t be afraid to explore different paths. Don’t spend your life thinking the grass is always greener elsewhere. You won’t know unless you give it a go.

Six years teaching maths in the ACT at both Saint Francis Xavier and Daramalan College reignited my passion for teaching mathematics in the classroom. I had the privilege of working with some of the most passionate and knowledgeable maths teachers around.  

All good things must come to an end and it was time for a change. A mathematics teaching job came up at Carroll College and the rest is history.

When I was in school, I wished every period would be maths. 23 years later, I’m in school and every period is maths. You see, dreams really do come true!