'Teacher entry ranking tumbles' is the headline of the Age this morning. One of our Asssie Notables, Mary Gilmore, started her teaching career as a classroom assistant at the age of 12. Those days are long gone, but there is a sense in which tomorrows teachers begin learning to be teachers when they are students. I had some fabulous teachers myself. I taught with some fabulous teachers as colleagues. And I'm pleased to say that some of my former students have taken on the vocation in their turn and, by all reports, are doing it very well. It's a kind of relay race and its important that teh baton isn't dropped.