Head of Wimmera campuses Geoff Lord said 40 graduates across a range of courses were recognised at a ceremony on Thursday.

“A highlight was our two inaugural early childhood graduates – Genevieve Kreymborg and Jessica Ross,” he said.

“Gen completed her final practice at the Lutheran School in Hong Kong and is now enrolled in a Master of Education Special Needs program at FedUni. 

“Gen also is now employed at Horsham’s Holy Trinity Lutheran School.”

Ms Ross now teaches at Warracknabeal Primary School.

She said being able to study where she lived was a major advantage.

“I definitely recommend the course to people who are looking into education and not willing to move away from their homes,” she said.

She said the more intimate learning environment due to small class sizes had helped her throughout her degree. 

“Because I got to do it in Horsham, during tutorials and lectures I had plenty of my questions answered and my tutors were on-site, so I felt better prepared than some people I’ve spoken to who have studied elsewhere,” she said.

Ms Ross said it was great to follow in her parents’ footsteps in her career.

“My parents were both teachers so it was kind of something I knew because of them,” she said.

“That’s how I became interested, by getting to see behind the scenes.”

Mrs Kreymborg said she had relished returning to study as a mature-age student.

“A long time ago, before I had children, I had done some other studies more to do with residential care for students,” she said.

“We had a local business that we sold and I decided to go back and finish what I started.”

Mrs Kreymborg said that without having access to the course in Horsham, she would not have been able to study teaching as it would have required uprooting her children from their schooling.