Vale Maureen Luneman

Rene had been a teacher for more than 40 years, she grew up in Heathmont, attending Ringwood HS and returned here for the last 20 odd years of her career.  She has been a teacher of English, Humanities and Psychology, with a smattering of VCAL thrown into the mix over the years for good luck. Rene loved language and was able to instill that love in others.  She loved teaching and she loved working with young people, taking great pride in their accomplishments and sorrow or frustration at their setbacks.  Many are the times that she would share a piece of student work with others in her staffroom and absolutely beam with pride when the student was able to demonstrate that they really understood the concept she was teaching them.   

Rene involved herself in many aspects of the education of young people, she set very high standards in her classroom and students were left in no doubt as to whether or not their work met those standards.  I have often heard students comment that they were glad that they had had her as their middle years English teacher because once they reached their Senior English, so much of it made sense.   As well as teaching, Rene thoroughly enjoyed working with students on all levels, in her time she has been a Year Level Coordinator, Head of Senior School and was heavily involved in the overall well being of her students.  What she didn't know about the workings of the VCAA was not worth bothering about.  She worked hard at making sure that students had every chance to overcome hardship and was always open to discussion with students about a range of topics.  Many of us recall Rene’s acerbic wit and her wicked humour, if I am honest, the students didn't always get it, but we did, and she often made us laugh, sometimes to the point of tears.  This didn’t always go down well in staff meetings. 

She took great pride in the achievements of her students, but she was not only a teacher, she also thrived on being a (sometimes self appointed) mentor to young people entering the profession.  She would often be seen "holding court" in her classroom or at her desk involved in discussion with young teachers (and older ones too for that matter) and sharing her wisdom and her experience, she'd also take others' ideas on board herself, she truly saw learning as a lifelong experience.  Some of those young teachers have been in touch since the sad news broke, expressing how glad they were to have been taken under her wing. Former students have been in touch as well to comment on how much they appreciated her efforts while they were at Heathmont.   

Rene was a teacher, it was her job, it was her career and it was her passion.