Schools and teachers in Casey nominated for Victorian Education Excellence Awards 2022.
Schools and teachers from across the southeast have been nominated for excellence awards. Meet the educators making Casey proud.
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Teachers and schools from the southeastern suburbs of Melbourne are in the running to win various titles in the Victorian Education Excellence Awards 2022.
After two years of Covid lockdowns and online learning, teachers and schools are being recognised and celebrated.
Check out some of the nominees.
Outstanding Early Career Secondary School Teacher Nomination:
Ben Wilson – Hampton Park Secondary College
Early career teachers are being recognised, with two secondary teachers and one primary teacher from Casey among those nominated.
Ben Wilson, a science and maths teacher from Hampton Park Secondary College, said he was surprised to be nominated by one of his colleagues for the award.
“Honestly it was more than I expected, I didn’t really think it would go further than the nomination,” he said.
“I hadn’t even heard of the award before I was nominated for it.”
Mr Wilson has been teaching for three years, and has most recently been elevated to the position of learning leader in 2022.
“I just do my best for my students and that means working with different people and teachers and making it work,” he said.
Humble in his nomination, Mr Wilson praised other like minded teachers.
“I don’t know if anything sets me apart from other teachers, I think there are hundreds of teachers that deserve nominations for any of these awards,” he said.
“It’s probably my willingness to work with different people and put my hand up for things where I think I can do a good job.”
Outstanding Inclusive Education Nomination:
Cranbourne West Secondary College
One of two schools in Casey nominated for Outstanding Inclusive Education is new school, Cranbourne West Secondary College.
Only in its second year of operation, principal Robert Duncan said he was “proud to have made such a positive impact in such a short time.”
“We only opened in 2021, so we are really pleased that we are being recognised in such a short time.”
Mr Duncan said the key to Cranbourne West’s success was actively creating an inclusive culture.
“It really starts with a culture where every student can learn,” he said.
“Every student needs an environment that is conducive to their way of learning. We try to make an environment where every student feels included.”
Alongside learning style inclusivity, Mr Duncan said it was important to the school to cater to cultural inclusivity as well.
“We have an Indigenous leader within our student population who does our Welcome to Country at the beginning of assemblies and events, and an inclusion and diversity captain for gender and LGBTQI+ issues,” Mr Duncan said.
“It’s important for kids to have the space to learn and chat about these issues at such a young age.”
Mr Duncan said the nomination wouldn’t have been possible without the strength of the school community.
“It’s been a great partnership between ourselves, our parents and student community together,” he said.
“We try our best to include everyone across the board so we can cater and include kids on the basis of their abilities, rather than excluding them for it.”
Outstanding School Improvement Nomination:
Cranbourne East Primary School
Cranbourne East Primary School is one of the nominees for the Outstanding School Improvement Award, being highlighted for its Tutor Learning Initiative Team.
The school implemented the program in 2021, and aimed to provide targeted catch-up learning sessions for students who had struggled throughout the lockdown disruptions over the period of the pandemic.
The team of 10 worked together in researching the best methods for students to undertake the program, and then helped to identify students in the school community who would benefit the most from the catch-up sessions.
Working alongside the students, parents and other teachers in the school, the program took a holistic and individualistic approach to each student, to develop action plans for their education going forward.
Cranbourne East Primary School principal Garry Rolfe said students had shown exceptional progress since the introduction of the program last year.
“The majority of students involved have demonstrated between 12 and 36 months of learning growth, especially in cohorts identified as ‘at risk’ with their learning,” he said.
“The program covers students who’s first language is not English, Koorie students and students in out-of-home care.”
Mr Rolfe said the school’s success with the program had led to it being used as a ‘model of excellence’ by the Southern Metropolitan Area student achievement manager.
“As principal I am proud of the work of the teachers and support staff,” he said.
“I see the awards as recognition for the tireless commitment of our Tutor Learning Team to ensure every young person is given every opportunity to succeed.”
“We all have our finger crossed here for a successful announcement at the VEEA awards ceremony on evening of 21 October,” Mr Rolfe said.
gemma.scerri@news.com.au
