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The Public Education Awards showcase excellence and equity in the public education system, recognising the achievements of our people from across the state.
Nominations are closed. Finalists for the 2023 Public Education Awards have now been announced.
Who can enter the awards
The awards are open to all Department for Education employees.
There are 11 award categories. All awards are open to teams or individuals.
Any Department for Education employee can nominate:
- themselves
- their team
- another individual
- another team
- a project
- a program.
The individual or people involved must have given consent for the nomination.
Previous finalists and winners (including as part of a team) are not eligible to apply for an award for 2 years.
For team nominations there’s no limit to the number of team members you can include, as long as they’ve all made a significant contribution to the achievement or activity. There may, however, be a limit applied to the number of tickets available for the team to attend the awards night.
Video: Public Education Awards 2023 showreel
Video transcript
We strive to create an environment that encourages and facilitates both excellence and equity.
We know that what makes the biggest difference of course are quality teachers, support staff, and principals. This is what public education has an abundance of, and this is what we're here to celebrate. You truly are champions of our public education system.
Our school is committed to its values, and that is; excellence defined by each student's individual personal best, opportunity and creativity. They've become more innovative, critical thinkers, problem solvers. Student voice is important to her, and their dignity, so she will make sure that each child feels comfortable. A sense of belonging in their school.
End of transcript.
Why you should enter
We want to share your stories to showcase excellence and equity in public education and the commitment of our people to learning, wellbeing, and sense of belonging.
Winning a Public Education Award is a recognition of individual, team and community achievements. It gives employees the opportunity to share their practice and be recognised for their outstanding impact.
We know education is a team effort. With consent, nominate a team or colleague.
Nominate a team or colleague
We encourage you to reflect on the outstanding work you’ve seen taking place across your site and encourage those involved to either apply for an award themselves or consent to you submitting a nomination on their behalf.
Nominate yourself or your own team
We know many people shy away from highlighting their individual or team achievements. However, we also know people are inspired by their colleagues’ practices, and children and young people are inspired by the achievements of their educators. We all perform at our best when we learn from each other and this is an excellent opportunity for you to help make that happen.
If you or your team has made a significant contribution to public education, nominating for an award allows you to celebrate your success and inspire other educators and support staff to make a difference in the lives of children and young people, as well as showing our children and young people how recognition and success continues beyond the classroom.
Prepare your nomination
Read or listen about how to nominate
Follow the advice on this page or read the nomination guide (PDF 1 MB) to find out more about how to make a nomination.
For additional guidance you can also:
- listen to our 2022 podcast episode, Teach, which explains how to apply. Note that some of the categories have changed in 2023
- attend a webinar on how to nominate and what makes a good nomination. Webinars are held during the nomination period. Email PublicEducationAwards@sa.gov.au if you wish to register.
Seek approval for your nomination
All nominations need endorsement to be eligible. Seek approval from your principal, director or line manager.
You’ll need to include contact details for your line manager in your nomination so make sure you speak with them about your nomination first.
Nominations will then proceed to the relevant education or executive director.
Choose an award category and review the criteria
Review the award categories and select a category that best suits your nomination. Take note of the criteria listed for the category as you'll need to address them throughout your nomination.
Gather evidence to support your nomination
Evidence is one of the most important parts of your nomination. Our judges want to read about the impact you or your colleagues made to learners, colleagues, the site and the wider community.
Examples of evidence may include:
- learners have a strong sense of belonging and feel culturally safe
- children and young people are actively engaged in and have agency in their learning
- educators, children, families and the community work in partnership to achieve positive outcomes
- learners are deeply engaged in critical and creative thinking
- learners are empowered to develop the skills, attitudes and dispositions as lifelong learners
- environments are established to value diversity and inclusion in the community.
You can provide evidence in supporting documents if needed. Documents must not exceed 2 pages in total. The file size must be 5MB or less.
Seek inspiration by looking at last year's winners and finalists or past winners.
Understand how to structure your nomination
When writing your nomination:
- think about 1 good example and use the same example throughout each of the criteria, so that judges can see the impact and depth of the initiative
- include headings, sub-headings and bullet points to make it easier to read
- make sure your answers are clear and written in plain English
- avoid using acronyms or relying on assuming knowledge
- don’t skip over the detail – you’re allowed 250 words for each criteria.
Consider following the STAR model to structure your responses:
- Situation: What was the situation, context, or challenge faced?
- Task: What needed to be accomplished, what role did you play?
- Action: What did you do and how did you go about it?
- Result: What results or outcomes were achieved and what did you learn?
If you’re writing a nomination on behalf of someone, describe the context to give judges a feel for the nominee. Include what the most challenging aspect of their role is.
Complete a nomination template (optional)
If you wish to work on your nomination offline before submitting, you can use a nomination template. When completing the online nomination form, copy and paste your answers from the template.
- Excellence in Learner Agency Award – nomination template (DOCX 354 KB)
- Credit Union SA Excellence and Equity in Education Award – nomination template (DOCX 504 KB)
- Lumination Innovation in Teaching and Learning Award – nomination template (DOCX 504 KB)
- Excellence in Collaborative Partnerships – nomination template (DOCX 503 KB)
- Excellence in Leadership Award – nomination template (DOCX 503 KB)
- Excellence in the Support of Early Career Teachers Award – nomination template (DOCX 504 KB)
- Inclusive Practices in Education – nomination template (DOCX 504 KB)
- Excellence in Collective Wellbeing Award – nomination template (DOCX 503 KB)
- Aunty Josie Agius Award – nomination template (DOCX 509 KB)
- Outstanding Reconciliation Initiatives Award – nomination template (DOCX 503 KB)
- Outstanding Safety Initiatives – nomination template (DOCX 504 KB)
Review your nomination
Before submitting:
- check you've answered all questions and addressed all criteria
- check there are no spelling errors
- have a colleague read over your nomination.
Read the terms and conditions
Finalists and winners – promotional use and responsibilities
Information provided in the title and summary fields of your nomination may be used for marketing purposes.
Winners and finalists may need to fulfil an ambassadorial role and must agree to participate in the promotion of the awards before and after the ceremony as requested by the department.
Refusal of nominations
Nominations will not be accepted if they’re not endorsed by your site leader or director.
The state judging panel reserves the right to not award a winner if they deem there are no suitable submissions in a particular category. Decisions made by the judging panel are final. No correspondence regarding the panel’s decisions and recommendations will be provided.
Submit a nomination
Nominations are closed.
What happens next
Find out what happens after entering the public education awards including:
- how finalists are selected and notified
- the awards ceremony
- the prizes and how they’re used
- how to give feedback.