Public Education Awards

Mr TEAGUE (Heysen) (15:05): My question is to the Minister for Education. Can the minister update the house about recognition of outstanding work being done across our education system?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (15:05): I am very pleased to be able to do so—and it is a very exciting month in South Australia's education system—and to provide information to the house on this topic. Next week, we celebrate World Teachers' Day, and that will be an opportunity for us to celebrate great work. Just last night, we had the Prime Minister's Prize for Excellence in Science in both primary and secondary teaching awarded to South Australian teachers, which was outstanding.

In the member for Heysen's own electorate, at the Stirling East Primary School, teacher Sarah Finney was successful in achieving the Prime Minister's Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Primary Schools. Anyone in the Stirling East community would be well aware of the great work that Sarah has been doing, and I know that the member for Heysen is because he took me to Sarah's classroom just a couple of months ago to see her work in practice and the work she was doing in the classroom, engaging students in science and STEM learning. The engagement of those students was a wonder to behold.

But wait, there's more. The very next prize announced last night was the Prime Minister's Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools. Dr Samantha Moyle of Brighton Secondary School in the Minister for Sport's electorate—another teacher the Minister for Sport is very well aware of—was recognised for her excellent work in biology and across a range of other science disciplines.

This builds on the celebrations last Friday night at the Public Education Awards, where it was wonderful to see celebrated some of the extraordinarily strong practice across our public school system. Here is just the tip of the iceberg of some of that great work. I commend Rebecca Huddy, the principal at Westport Primary School—known, I am aware, to the member for Lee—who won the leadership award. In the nine years that she has been at that school, she has seen her school double in size to nearly 300 students. That is a great vote of confidence in that school.

Justine Fogden, in the member for Chaffey's electorate, was recognised as Secondary Teacher of the Year. Her work as an ag teacher at Loxton High School, connecting students to future job pathways in that important industry, has been well recognised by her peers and her community. Karen Schilling from Tintinara Area School in the South-East was awarded Primary Teacher of the Year in South Australia. She is a year 6/7 teacher with outstanding achievements in the maths area in particular.

The Early Years Teacher of the Year was Sharnie Jamieson, from Glenelg Primary School in the member for Morphett's electorate. Sharnie gave an amazing speech to all those who were present at the Public Education Awards, talking about her practice in her classroom. The explicit teaching and the way that she uses multimodal teaching and multisensory learning experiences for her students is able to engage them, particularly students with dyslexia and other learning difficulties. Her outstanding achievements were well recognised.

Trent Heneker would be known to many people—some in this house, but also many people in the Barossa—for his work, and he won the School and Preschool Support Award. Not only does he manage the facilities and grounds at Nuriootpa High School but he also helps students with a disability by involving them in their learning in landscaping work. He has created a young environmentalist group and is also a professional musician who provides support to the music department. He was a very popular winner and there were loud cheers in the room that night.

Lucy Standish from Kilparrin won the Community Engagement Award for her work with students with disabilities learning music, performing with international artists and the Adelaide Youth Orchestra. The Innovation and Practice award went to 'Students as agents of change' from Prospect North Primary School. The System Excellence Award went to the Social Work Incident Support Service (SWISS) team at Flinders Park for the extraordinary work they do in supporting schools that have critical incidents. Most recently, the one at Brighton school is very well known, very unfortunately.

The Aunty Josie Agius Award had a popular winner: Rachel Amos from Port Augusta Children's Centre, who has lifted the Indigenous preschool enrolments. The Performance Through Values Award went to Janet Hughes for her career of work supporting students with disabilities learning how to swim. I am sure we all congratulate all those recipients.