Secretary’s Award for an Outstanding School Initiative 2024

The Secretary’s Award for an Outstanding School Initiative is a prestigious award presented to NSW public schools demonstrating via a discrete program, event or initiative their commitment to teaching and learning outcomes, leadership, supporting the students and/or creating a sustainable learning environment.

Who can apply?

Any individual NSW public school or a group of schools is eligible to apply for the award.

Note – nominations on behalf of a group of schools must be supported by all schools involved.

What are the selection criteria?

The Award recognises the school’s outstanding achievement in delivering a program, event or initiative. (Please note – if your program or initiative has affected the whole school outcomes, please consider applying for the Secretary’s School Achievement Award instead.)

The school initiative should be designed to improve outcomes for students in learning, attainment, engagement, inclusion and/or wellbeing and be evidence-based, with long-term measurable benefits. This may include a new initiative or extension or scaling of an existing initiative that is having proven impact.

As an example, the program can demonstrate:

  • Achievement of significant improvement in learning outcomes and opportunities
  • Excellence in student learning initiatives
  • Maximising learning opportunities for students
  • Evidence of how the Initiative aligns to the school plan
  • Community leadership

All nominations must be endorsed by the school Principal. The Principal is also asked to provide a citation to be used in the Awards program should the nomination be successful.

Nominations must also include a reference from the Director, Educational Leadership.

How many awards are made each year?

Up to 20 awards may be presented each year.  The selection committee reserves the right to award fewer than 20 awards if nomination quality is not sufficiently high, or if the nominations do not provide adequate evidence of achievements and outcomes.

A school may submit a maximum of 2 nominations per year for this award.

Who selects the recipients?

The selection panel will include representatives from the NSW Department of Education, the Public Education Foundation and other representatives from the education sector. All nominations will be reviewed according to the criteria set out.

How to nominate?

All nominations for the Minister’s and Secretary’s Awards are submitted via the Public Education Foundation’s online application system – PEFApply.

Nominator – an individual who has knowledge of the project and can provide details of how the Initiative has improved outcomes for students in learning, attainment, engagement, inclusion and/or wellbeing or has made a significant impact across the school community.

Referee – a reference must be provided by the Director, Educational Leadership (DEL).

Endorser – All nominations must be endorsed by the school Principal.  The Principal is also asked to provide a citation to be used in the Awards program should the nomination be successful.

Please note – the endorsement must be provided by a person who is not the nominator.

Submitting a nomination:

To access the application system use this link – PEFApply – then click on the relevant award.

Prior to starting the online process, the nominator may prefer to gather the necessary information ready to submit:

  • School details (including name of principal, DEL and person preparing the nomination)
  • Details of group of schools if more than one school is involved in the initiative (including school name, principal name, Director PSNSW name)
  • Initiative information:
    • Project summary providing a short description of the project and its success(max 150 word)
    • Detail how the need for this project was identified and what evidence-based teaching or leadership practices were applied to achieve this (max 300 words)
    • Explain how this project resulted in improvements in student and/or staff and/or community learning, engagement, inclusion and/or wellbeing. (max 300 words)
    • Provide details of the sustainability of the project, how the project relates to student outcomes, and how it links back to the school improvement plan. (max 300 words) Additional documentation, to a maximum of 6 pages, should be attached to provide evidence of how the initiative has met each of the criteria. 
  • A photograph of the Initiative “in action” (to be used in the Awards program should the nomination be successful)
  • A reference provided by the Director, Educational Leadership confirming the impact and success of the project (uploaded pdf – maximum 300 words)
  • Principal endorsement and citation (the nominator must initiate a request via the online nomination to the Principal. This will result in an email being sent to the Principal requesting them to endorse the nomination, and provide a 100 word citation online)

When is the closing date for nominations?

Nominations close at 11.59pm on Tuesday 14th May 2024. No late nominations will be considered.

When are the Awards announced?

Nominators will be advised of the outcome of their nominations in early July 2024.

Winners of the Minister’s and Secretary’s Awards for Excellence will be officially announced at the Public Education Awards event, to be held at the Sydney Town Hall on Monday 5th August 2024.

For further information including terms and conditions

Call the Public Education Foundation on 02 7814 2806 or email us at info@publiceducationfoundation.org.au