Tracy Hickey and Phil Lynch received Victorian Teachers Credit Union awards for outstanding results in their Bachelor of Education (Primary) course.

Mr Lynch travels three days a week from Hamilton to attend his course, while Ms Hickey mixes life as a mother on a dairy farm near Cobden with her studies.

Deakin’s education co-ordinator Dr Bernadette Walker-Gibbs said the pair had produced high academic results and outstanding outcomes in teaching rounds.

The awards are based on the first three years of their education course in Warrnambool.

“They have both excelled and been inspirations to

others in the course,” Ms Walker Gibbs said.

A mother of children aged 10 and 12, Ms Hickey is turning her long-held interest in childhood development into a career.

“It is challenging to learn new work each semester but it is very rewarding when you hand in all the completed work,” she said.

“There are a lot of nights with not much sleep but I chose to do it and I enjoy the challenge. The Deakin staff have been very supportive.”

Nearing course completion, Ms Hickey, 40, is keen to find work at a local school.

“We have a farm at Tandarook (between Camperdown and Cobden) so I hope I can get a position locally,” she said.

Mr Lynch started study in Ballarat but returned home to Hamilton after a year.

“I still travel three times a week to Warrnambool but it’s a lot closer than before.”

He completed his first teaching rounds in Portland but more recently returned to his former primary school at North Hamilton.

“That was a really good experience to go back and see how it has changed,” Mr Lynch said.