Victorian Education Excellence Awards

Winners

2008 Winners

Congratulations to the winners of the 2008 Victorian Education Excellence Awards, announced at Crown Palladium on Friday 16 May.

See: 2008 Victorian Education Excellence Award Winners (PDF - 985Kb)

 Back to Top

2007 Winners

Read about the winners of the 2007 Victorian Education Excellence Awards - what made them enter, how they felt when they won and the innovative ideas and commitment to education that made them winners:

Back to Top

Lindsay Thompson Fellowship

Abigail Graham, Trafalgar Neerim Cluster

I entered the Victorian Education Excellence Awards because:

  • I had a desire to learn more about what teachers have found to be the effective elements of a lesson or series of lessons, as well as the ways in which this professional learning has been shared systemically
  • I wanted to broaden my contacts and learning from beyond the Victorian Education system
  • of the need within my own schools to support teachers in implementing PoLT in the classroom, particularly in Mathematics and Science.

It was a complete surprise to win! I was really challenged by the selection process, and as I progressed through each stage I felt satisfied with my achievement at each level.        

I am incredibly proud to have received this prestigious award in such talented company but a little daunted by the responsibility in delivering a high quality response to my research questions that will be relevant to our schools.

I am planning to undertake several trips as part of this research. These include school visits and training in the US, Europe and Asia. I have been overwhelmed by the support of educators from around the globe and am eager to experience different school settings.

The research and practice from several countries outside Australia on the elements of an effective lesson in order to stimulate discussion on what works in our schools and with our students.

Back to Top

Curriculum Innovation Award

St Helena Secondary College, Northern Metropolitan Region, Nanotechnology–A Daring Innovation in the Science Curriculum

Nanotechnology is the manipulation of materials at the molecular level to produce new products, one of the key scientific and commercial developments of the 21st Century. 

In 2006 we received funding to develop a nanotechnology elective to re-invigorate our year 10 science curriculum. Its purpose was to inspire, motivate, engage and inform students of opportunities and challenges of Nanotechnology.

We developed a series of modules for our school and presented them at a Chemistry Teachers conference in early 2007. The response was overwhelming and we realised that there was a pressing need for PD of teachers in this innovative area of science. We applied for the award because we hoped to produce a package of materials which will provide comprehensive support for teachers intending to introduce Nanotechnology to secondary science students.

When our name was read out on the award night, we were surprised, delighted and ecstatic!

There were so many different emotions at once. 

Now that we have come to terms with the reality of the prize, we realise that the funding will enable us to go overseas, which is a rare opportunity for teachers. We are very appreciative of the award. We are presently in the planning stages of our trip, and our ultimate aim is to share our knowledge and experiences with students, teachers and the wider community.

Back to Top

mecu Outstanding Business Manager Award

Chris Confoy, Frankston High School

The Principal of Frankston High School, John Albiston, nominated me for the Outstanding Business Manager Award. As it was the inaugural award in this category, it was a little daunting with no precedence to follow. However I saw this as an opportunity to promote the role of Business manager in our schools, while gaining some international best practice in the resourcing of schools, to share with colleagues both in and out of my school.

The Education Excellence Awards night was a grand affair.

It was thrilling to be a finalist and surprising to be announced as the winner.

I am now finalising my itinerary which includes an international School Business Managers conference in Toronto and a range of school visits. I’m keen to learn from the experiences of international Business Managers, particularly in relation to private-public partnerships and maximisation of the physical, financial and human resources in schools.

On my return I expect to share this information with other Business Managers and DEECD staff through presentations at network meetings, conferences and journal articles. In addition, I hope to encourage other Business Managers and Principals to visit my school to observe any improvements made as a result of this exciting professional development.

Back to Top

Outstanding School Leadership Award

Steven Boyle, Corio Bay Secondary College

I had been aware of the Leadership award for some time but had never actually decided to enter. However after some comments by colleagues I reconsidered and decided to apply. 

My rationale was based by the opportunity to further promote the Corio Bay Senior College and its achievements and to acknowledge the significant work of the staff.

The winning of an award such as this would be very affirming for the parents in our community and also the students in the college.

I was delighted to be shortlisted and given the opportunity to be interviewed but had no great expectation of being successful.

I was genuinely taken aback when my name was read out! I felt very proud of Corio Bay Senior College and personally a bit overwhelmed that I had actually been successful, but very happy to have done so.

My focus for the award is the development of a School Improvement Model which incorporates System Leadership and building community capacity through a more integrated approach to the delivery of services and education.

This will involve me visiting a range of locations in the UK and USA where significant work is underway to build capacity in local communities identified as underachieving. This work will inform a range of proposed Regeneration Projects in a number of locations within our State System. An important focus of this will be the development and emergence of the role of a System Leader

 

Back to Top

Outstanding School Services/Support Team Award

Doveton North Primary School

We are overwhelmed by our selection as inaugural winners of the “Education Excellence Outstanding School Services / Support Team Award 2007”. 

We were nominated by staff (Pauline Canfield and Michael Polack) of Doveton North Primary School under the guise of a grant application. Subsequently when the true nature of the “grant” became obvious neither of us expected to win such a prestigious award as our idea was designed to provide better relations within our school between parents and staff and offer the best possible learning environment for the children within our community.

The award money will be used to provide resources that can be utilised by both staff, students and parents. We will be able to facilitate a better learning environment for the children by developing a shared understanding of the duty within the school community for the needs of our students, which the community shares a heavy responsibility. 

Our school of Doveton North will be able to collect information on what is really happening in the community and offer resources to parents and teachers to assist in the best possible learning outcomes for students. 

It will give us a great privilege to be able to share both our information and discoveries with the rest of the education community.

 

Back to Top

Victorian Teachers Credit Union Outstanding Primary Teacher Award

Lynette Hines, Tallarook Primary School

I felt extremely honoured when my principal informed me that she had nominated me for the Victorian Teachers Credit Union Outstanding Primary Teacher Award. 

It is humbling to be recognised for what I love doing—teaching and learning.  However, I am thrilled to named the recipient of this Award as I will now be able to undertake professional learning that will enable me to respond to the ever changing challenges—especially integrating communication technologies into the classroom. 

Home and school links are strong in my Primary School, Tallarook Primary, where we are committed to providing all students with the best possible learning opportunities. My aspiration is to build learning communities which will allow ICT to be used to provide all learners with life long skills that have been attained during engaged, visual, hands on learning. I believe this can be achieved by developing programs at Tallarook Primary School which will provide teachers, students, parents and the wider school community with life-long skills in the ever changing area of Information and Communications Technology.

The potential of a new Elearning community is exciting as it will facilitate dialogue between teachers and students as well as the wider school community who are unable to have regular face-to-face discussion.

Working with other award winners has been sensational, I'm really excited about gaining new skills through my research which will enable me to utilise technology in the classroom in a way that engages a greater number of students. I look forward to sharing this research with others in the teaching community.

 

Back to Top

mecu Outstanding Secondary Teacher Award

Paul Van Eeden, Thornbury High School

I was nominated by a colleague and was both flattered and slightly embarrassed.

You feel a bit of a fraud knowing countless hardworking teachers deserve to be called Outstanding.

The Crown Palladium Awards night was certainly a momentous occasion and winning a huge scary buzz!! 

What I do is a little different in that I’ve been involved as a teacher in Community broadcasting for over a decade; setting up the Student Youth Network (SYN FM 90.7) and ClassTV on Channel 31. Both are youth publication platforms for students to have a voice in the media and to showcase their talent.

The project I’ve designed around the win is an attempt to link ClassTV to all schools through our soon to be launched website, ClassNet, a site modelled on the success of “Youtube” which will allow students and teachers to upload content including all sorts of short films, animations and related digital content.

The $10,000 grant will enable me to target schools in Brittain and America with a view to developing a sister school relationship. Students across the globe will also be able to upload content and thus view each others work. Hopefully we will create a really dynamic curriculum resource. 

 

Back to Top

School Leadership Team Award

Seabrook Primary School

Our aim in this application was to highlight the importance of teacher and student dialogue focused through effective questioning.

In every school all day teachers and students have continuous discussion or dialogue, much of which is perhaps ineffective because the discussion is really statements about ‘what to do’.

As a school involved in teaching through an inquiry approach we are convinced (supported by research) that direst teaching or coaching through effective questions is a powerful teaching tool.

Student learners require a range of responses from their coaches or teachers depending upon their level of expertise.

Our project will look into the types of responses most suited to student to help them improve their learning and assist them to become independent life long learners. This project will look at instructional discourse strategies, classroom management strategies and coaching strategies. 

We are always encouraged by the thought:

‘We haven’t failed. We now know a thousand things that won’t work, so we’re that much closer to finding what will.’

(Thomas Edison)

 

2006 Winners

The winners of the 2006 Victorian Education and Excellence Awards are listed below. To learn more about the winners, and view the list of finalists, download the Winners & Finalists document (PDF - 481Kb).

Lindsay Thompson Fellowship: Jane Satchwell

Outstanding School Leadership Award: Val Gill

School Leadership Team Award: Sebastopol College

Victorian Teachers Credit Union Outstanding Primary Teacher Award: Helen Otway

mecu Outstanding Secondary Teacher Award: Stephen McNamara

Curriculum Innovation Award: Ringwood North Primary School

Westfield Premier's Education Scholarships:

  • Diane Campisano
  • Sue Graham
  • Libby Le Rossignol
  • Wendy O'Connor
  • Michelle Hamilton

 

Back to Top