A principal of an award-winning secondary school is calling on Kiwi teaching teams to share their success stories.
Louise Ānaru, head at Kaitāia College in the Far North says teachers do amazing work and are rightfully proud of what they do. But many choose to remain humble and sometimes hold back when it comes to sharing their achievements.
But she says this year's Prime Minister's Education Excellence Awards is an opportunity to celebrate innovative programmes being undertaken at schools throughout the country.
"The benefits of letting other educators know what they've achieved far outweigh the hesitation when it comes to entering the awards," she says. "It's an opportunity for those achievements to seed new ideas and inspire other teachers to make positive change in their schools and communities."
Entries to the Ministry of Education awards are open until April 16 and Ānaru, who is one of 13 award judges, says teaching is a privilege. "It carries with it a responsibility to make a difference for young people and I am looking forward to reviewing many more inspiring stories in 2021."
Ānaru is ideally placed to speak about the impact innovation can have in the classroom. As former principal at Flaxmere College she oversaw the creation of a "whānau environment" which helped exam pass rates soar from as low as eight per cent when she started at the college in 2010 to close to 90 per cent less than 10 years later.
Flaxmere has a high percentage of Māori students and at the time of the award Ānaru said students needed to feel part of a whānau within the school environment. "They need to feel connected, valued by their teachers and have positive relationships."
Developing a curriculum with this in mind through the help of staff, whānau and the community contributed to a dramatic turnaround in NCEA pass rates which rose from around a third for levels 1 and 2 and just eight per cent at level 3 to close to 90 per cent across all grades by 2018.
As a result, the college took out the Supreme Award in the 2018 awards for its focus on accelerating Māori student progress. It received a total of $59,000 in award money, part of which was used to send two staff members to an international education conference in Melbourne.
Ānaru, who was appointed an award judge in 2019, left Flaxmere at the end of that year and is now in her second year at Kaitāia College. Despite her proud record at Flaxmere, she says she finds fresh inspiration when judging the hundreds of entries that have gone across her desk.
"They have opened my mind to a broad pool of best practices I can draw on," she says. "I am always open to ideas and the process has inspired me to do more research into new innovations.
"I believe the awards also strengthen and raise morale in the teaching profession and can help develop a long-term strategy to raise the profession's status by showcasing what excellence in teaching and education looks like."
Anaru says the experience with Covid-19 lockdowns has renewed the appreciation many New Zealanders have for the work kōhanga reo, early learning services, schools and kura do for children on a day-to-day basis. It is hoped this will result in people encouraging their local schools to enter this year.
The ministry is now calling for entries to the awards which are designed to celebrate teams of teachers and the collaborative work they are doing in schools. The Focus Prize this year is in Excellence in Environmental and Sustainability Education.
The awards have been held since 2014 and focus on the work of groups, teams and partnerships. They comprise four categories – excellence in engaging, leadership, teaching/learning and wellbeing education.
Judging is carried out independently of the ministry and the best overall winner is chosen as the Prime Minister's Supreme Award winner.
The winners in each of the four categories and the focus prize receive a package including a trophy, certificate, $20,000 and professional development opportunities. The Supreme Award winner receives an additional $30,000, trophy and certificate.
For more information go to: https://pmawards.education.govt.nz/