Excellence by a Support Staff Member

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Best National Achievement

Don Hones

Granville Boys High School, New South Wales

As Community Liaison Officer for the Pacific Islander Community, Don Hones has put his heart and soul into serving the interest of students from Tongan and Samoan backgrounds and their families. Don has quickly gained the trust and respect of the boys and their families, establishing strong community links and providing support where it is needed, often outside school hours. Trained as a teacher, Don has used his considerable expertise to develop meaningful and active programmes to maintain and nurture the boys’ cultural heritage, to involve them in their schooling, to ensure they attend class and to provide opportunities for them to be involved in relevant and valuable programmes.

Lynette Eggins

Clarence Valley Anglican School, New South Wales

Lynette Eggins uses her strong sense of commitment, purpose, energy and creativity to improve educational outcomes for students at the school. As Marketing and Enrolments Manager, Lynette has a versatile role and she works closely with the school community to organise many successful promotional and fund raising events. She is highly respected by staff, students and parents and goes out of her way to ensure the corporate life of the school is lively and dynamic.

David Neilson

Barwon South Network, Victoria

David Neilson works as a school support officer across a network of 22 schools, including Belmont Primary school. His energy, ideas, vision and belief that working together can improve outcomes for students has had an enormous impact on the Barwonnet work of schools. By organising conferences and workshops, David has brought teachers, principals and business managers together to discuss issues of professional interest and ways to improve educational environments in schools.

Jill Walters

Para Hills West Primary School, South Australia

As School Services Officer at Para Hills West Primary School, Jill has worked tirelessly to support students with learning difficulties, particularly children with autism. By engaging with children in small groups and one on one, Jill provides invaluable assistance in the classroom and helps ensure the curriculum is accessible to all students. Jill’s commitment to student learning goes well beyond the classroom. Her reliability, skills, knowledge, innovation and persistence are qualities she brings to every learning and support situation.

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Highly Commended National Achievement

Jan Cooper

Engadine High School, New South Wales

Nothing was too much trouble for now recently retired school administration manager at Engadine High School, Jan Cooper. Jan is an outstanding administrator, financial manager and leader of staff. Jan enthusiastically involved herself in all aspects of the school community and through her excellent organisational skills she provided exceptional organisational support for all school functions and liaised very effectively between the school and parents.

Lyn Mernagh

The Canberra College, Australian Capital Territory

In her position as IT Manager at the Canberra College, Lyn Mernagh goes above and beyond her duties. She provides tremendous support to the school community and shows exceptional leadership in setting the school’s ICT strategy. Her achievements include initiating improvements to student reporting systems, ensuring all staff can use the latest technological developments and managing the entire process surrounding the introduction of smart boards to the college. Lyn is currently the representative for all ACT government colleges in developing the new system-wide reporting programme.

Donald Mudge

Jamestown Community School, South Australia

Donald Mudge is a highly respected and dedicated member of staff at Jamestown Community School responsible for grounds maintenance and agricultural support. Within this role, Donald has been able to utilise his trade skills to work with students in the agricultural sector of the school and in developing projects for students pursuing practical trade experience. Donald is a hard working staff member who goes out of his way to involve students and the rest of the school community in all aspects of his work.

Heather Niss

Carmel School, Western Australia

Heather is a valuable staff member at Carmel School. In her position as Jewish Studies administrator Heather goes beyond the call of duty and works tirelessly to organise a multitude of functions, festivals, ceremonies, excursions and camps for the school while at the same time meeting the day-to-day administrative needs of colleagues and students.

Heather is an integral and respected member of the school community and she has contact with staff, parents and students on a daily basis.

Colin Russell

Cardijn College, South Australia

Colin Russell is the maintenance supervisor at Cardijn College and he has been highly commended for his strong commitment to providing the best possible educational facilities for his school. Among his achievements, Colin worked with a supervising teacher to provide focus, skills and guidance to Year 11 boys in the Doorways to Construction, and over the last four years Colin designed, budgeted, built or supervised over twenty state-of-the-art general purpose classrooms.

Jeanette Skennar

Loganlea State High School, Queensland

As a teacher aide at Loganlea State High School, Jeanette Skennar has proved to be an invaluable asset to the school in her work with students with physical and multiple disabilities. Jeanette has taken responsibility for the care of these students as part of her role. Jeanette also assists students from the Special Education Unit and Learning Support Unit in mainstream classes, supervises small group learning in the Student Centre, conducts one-on-one tuition for high risk students on special programmes and manages the after school homework programme.

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