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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-05-14 Daily Xml
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Public Education Awards

Mr CREGAN (Kavel) (14:38): My question is to the Minister for Education. Can the minister update the house on the 2019 Public Education Awards?

The Hon. J.A.W. GARDNER (Morialta—Minister for Education) (14:38): I know that all members of parliament will be pleased to learn more about the 2019 Public Education Awards, and I hope that many will take the opportunity to encourage members of their community to make nominations. I am very pleased to receive this question from the member for Kavel. I know that the member for Kavel has asked me as both a candidate and a shadow minister and, since the election, as the member for Kavel to visit a number of his local schools to engage with parents and to engage with teachers.

Indeed, when we were visiting Mount Barker South Primary School, I reckon that we met one of the teachers and heard about some of the ways that she had put the reward for winning a Public Education Award towards the benefit of her school. The member for Kavel is also the son of teachers who spent time teaching in the public education system. I know he is very passionate about this and I thank him for that.

These awards are significant in South Australia, and I think they are one of the better things that were instituted by the former government during their time. They are certainly awards that we are keeping going strong because of the benefits they provide to our school communities, our teachers, our families and our communities more broadly.

There are 10 categories. Congratulations again on the opportunities that were given to the school communities of last year's winners: Amanda Pedder, who was our Secondary Teacher of the Year; Kelly Rivett, the Primary Teacher of the Year; Peta Tooley, the Early Years Teacher of the Year; Antoinette Jones, the Teachers Health Leadership Award; Annette Hammond, the School and Preschool Support Award winner from the member for Flinders' electorate; the Early Career Teacher Development Program for their System Excellence Award; Katrina Tjitayi, who won the Aunty Josie Agius Award; Paint the Inner West REaD community group, who won the Community Engagement Award; Mike Hawkey, who won the Innovation in Practice Award; and Roger Nottage from the Frome electorate, who won the Performance Through Values Award.

I think the opportunities that those teachers have given their students through their work have been profound. All 30 finalists win something. The 20 runners-up get $2,000 that they can put towards professional development or indeed professional development opportunities for their whole school. The winners win $10,000.

Just to highlight a couple of those examples, when the members for Napier and Schubert and I were up at the Two Wells Primary School a few months ago, we met a fellow called Mike Hawkey, who was encouraging his students to be engaged with robotics and the opportunities in science industries and space industries in particular. He is a tremendous fellow who has inspired his students, and we have seen him around the place.

He has put his money towards attending a STEM conference in Canberra; the CONASTA STEM tour to Singapore, where he is visiting the Singapore Space Agency; a NASA science tour; and he is spending a week at a space camp in Alabama. I am absolutely confident that he will bring back those experiences and share them with his classrooms for many years to come. Also, I know that he collaborates across the South Australian Science Teachers Association and shares those experiences more broadly.

I know that the member for Frome and I would be interested that Roger Nottage, who will admit he is towards the end of his career, is using his money to benefit the whole Port Pirie community by bringing Michael McQueen to Port Pirie to deliver a Futuristic Forward 2030 presentation to educators across Port Pirie as well as the local business community and local agencies who work with the school.

All the winners have done worthy work to get the awards, and they have used their reward money in worthy ways. I can't wait to meet the award winners for the 2019 awards. I encourage all of our members of parliament to be ambassadors for the award. But, of course, I am pleased to say once again that the official ambassador for the award is the great Adelaide Crows footballer Eddie Betts, who is very keen to talk about the advantage of education. I hope that, through his advocacy, many people will be brought to make nominations for these awards.

Mr Malinauskas interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition is called to order. The member for West Torrens.

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