Record nominations for excellence

Record nominations for excellence

A record 640 teachers and leaders have been nominated in the 2009-2010 round of the NEiTA Foundation’s National Excellence in Teaching and Leadership Awards, a 236 per cent increase over the previous 2007– 08 round.

Nominations came from those who knew the teachers best – boards of trustees, parent associations, early childhood and school parents, secondary student councils and school management committees.

Now in their 14th year, the awards attracted 466 nominations for the ASG Excellence in Teaching Awards category (previously 207) and 174 (64) for Cognition Education Excellence in Leadership Awards category, with increased nominations across all teaching sectors.

Early childhood teacher nominations rose to 135 (previously 53); primary and intermediate to 345 (135); and secondary to 160 (83).

Convenor of the NEiTA Foundation’s selection panel, Brother Pat Lynch, says the growth in the number of teachers nominated is pleasing and a massive vote of support for teachers and leaders.

“As a country, we understand that aspiring for excellence is crucial for progress and success - we know it brings benefits. It seems the message is filtering through to education where there is now a community-wide understanding of excellence, its necessity for our children’s learning and for the system to progress.

“It is 20 years since the introduction of ‘Tomorrow’s Schools’ which brought about greater parental and community involvement in education. Boards of Trustees and the wider community understand that having excellent teachers is fundamental to education success.

“We see teachers who are achieving great results with students and, as in other spheres of life, it is important to celebrate and recognise those involved,” says Pat Lynch.

The NEiTA awards are jointly supported by ASG Education Programs New Zealand, which assists parents to plan for their children’s future education, and Cognition Education, New Zealand’s leading independent educational services and consultancy provider.

Nominated teachers and leaders will now complete a further submission prior to the selection process early next year when twenty area representatives will be selected to receive Regional Awards for Excellence in Teaching and Leadership in Wellington in May. From these, ten recipients will receive National Awards at their schools or centres later in 2010.

National awardees will receive professional development grants from a pool totaling $35,000. Two $5000 and three $2500 grants will each be made for excellence in teaching and for excellence in leadership.

ENDS

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