Seeing a return on investment
When Mr Tony Cha came to Trinity in late 2021, he came on board as a casual and then the STEAM teacher at the Junior School, a role that he says shaped his ideas of where he wanted to go next.
“I loved having the diversity of teaching a whole range of year levels. It gave me insight into which years I wanted to work with most.”
When an opportunity came up to become a Year 6 teacher, he leapt at the chance – interacting with that year level in particular had become one of the highlights in his initial role.
“You’re able to have deeper conversations, go in depth with content, and pick their brains,” he says.
In particular, Mr Cha says he’s enjoying Trinity’s commitment to the IB programme, something he had not had much exposure to before.
“I love the creativity and looking at real world issues. I’m infatuated with it because it’s my style of teaching … we keep going down rabbit holes … for me, that’s the best part.”
He says while the IB programme is beneficial for all year levels, he’s found the combination of his teaching style and the core pillars of the IB work together beautifully for Year 6. “My teaching style is really personal, I like to tailor it to each student and I found Year 6 to be really receptive to this.”
In 2026, he’s teaching Year 4 and while it’s still early days, he says it’s a whole different ball game.
“Year 4 is more raw. They have less of a picture of who they are in the world; they’re less opinionated in general. It’s more unfiltered but it is less intricate. They’re also a bit more attached to you than the Year 6s who are a bit more independent.”
Mr Cha says the one thing the year levels have in common is that they are looking for guidance in how to be. They want to know how to be good men – even if they don’t realise that’s what they’re looking for in their role models.
Trinity’s goal is to grow good men and that’s something Mr Cha is passionate about, saying that despite their young age, he will always focus on instilling to them what it means to be a good man.
The students he taught at the beginning of his time at Trinity are now in Year 11 and he says that when he sees them around campus, they still take the time to say hello.
“Normally, when they get to high school they’re a bit too cool for school and don’t want to acknowledge their teachers, but every student I’ve had will come and say hi to me.”
He credits this to his investment in their lives.
“I care a lot about my students. I try to be involved in everything they do at the School, like Music recitals and sports games. If they’re in my class, I’ll be in attendance. I show them I’m invested in them. If they see I’m invested, they put the investment into me too.”
While sharing his experiences for this article, Mr Cha was supposed to be out on the playground playing basketball with some of his students at lunch.
“I’ve got to keep my street cred up,” he laughs. “Sometimes they think they can beat Mr Cha, but I’ve got to put them in their place. But taking the time to play a game with them … they see that I’m not just saying I care, but I do it with my actions.
“It’s the same with teaching them to be good men. I don’t just tell them, I try to show them in everything I do. It’s about setting the standard high.”
Another way he invests into his students is through Co-curricular programs. From Young Scientists, Robotics Club, and Coding Club to Steam Club, Fitness Club and Junior School Basketball, there isn’t much Mr Cha isn’t up for. He is particularly proud of Fitness Club, a Co-curricular he has helped to grow from the ground up during his time at Trinity.
The group is centred around giving students who might not be on an ‘elite’ athletic trajectory the opportunity to build skills and confidence.
“I don’t want these kids to feel left out of the teams. I want them to grow that confidence so they can feel as though they can play these sports, they can do these things and maybe eventually they can perform at a level where they’ll be selected for a team.”
The underlying motivation of striving to be better, continually improving, is something he says he values about the culture at Trinity.
“I try to attain really high standards all the time. The drive, and the things that Trinity is trying to achieve are very much aligned with mine. Trinity keeps pushing me to strive for more. The culture here is about always trying to get better. I would get bored if it wasn’t like that.
“It’s a supportive environment; even when I’m not performing at my best or I don’t feel my best, Mark [Dunn] and the rest of the team, they’re very supportive.”
This environment, he says, is not confined to the teaching staff.
“It’s a family environment. Everybody cares for each other. The teachers, the parents … it’s such a nice environment to be in.”
