Papamoa school recognised in PM's awards

Children from Papamoa Kindergarten during a practice tsunami drill. The kindergarten has been named as a finalist in this year's Prime Minister education awards. Photo/file

Two schools and a kindergarten in the Bay of Plenty region are among the finalists in the 2018 Prime Minister's Education Excellence Awards.

They are Rotorua Girls' High School, John Paul College, and Papamoa Kindergarten.

The kindergarten is a finalist in the Excellence in Engaging/Atahāpara Award, which celebrates working together as a community to transform relationships and achievement, leading to improved and sustained outcomes for all children and young people.

In a statement released by the Ministry of Education today, it stated the kindergarten was committed to supporting all children to become life-long learners. To help them achieve this, they collaborated with their community to establish an Assessment Whānau Group that will help develop and embed bicultural teaching, learning, and assessment framework into their practice.

As a result, learners have clear ideas about their learner identity in different contexts over time and they're able to understand some difficult concepts. This led to improved and sustained outcomes for all children.

Ministry of Education's Ellen MacGregor-Reid said the finalists' entries demonstrated excellent teaching practices that support student achievement.

"I'd like to congratulate this year's finalists in the awards. We will celebrate their achievements and share their stories with the sector, communities, and whānau. I wish the finalists all the best for the announcement of the winners in July," she said.

Rotorua Girls' High School is a finalist inthe Excellence in Teaching and Learning/Atatū Award category, which celebrates teaching that transforms the learning of all children and young people, and achieves improved and sustained outcomes for them all.

John Paul College is a finalist for the 2018 Education Focus Prize/Takatū Prize, which celebrates outstanding inclusive practices that enable all children, young people with additional learning needs to succeed.

The awards celebrate outstanding education practices in New Zealand. This year saw 15 finalists selected from 127 entries.

Members of the Judging Panel are visiting the finalists during May and June to see their work and speak with all involved. Winners from each category will receive $20,000 and a professional development opportunity.

The Prime Minister's Supreme Award is selected from the category winners. It is presented to the early learning service, school or kura that has had the greatest influence on education outcomes.

The Supreme Award winner will receive an additional $30,000 and an opportunity to represent New Zealand in an international education conference.

The Awards ceremony will be held in Wellington in July.