ACS Judith Leeson Award
And the finalists for the 2008 ACS Judith Leeson Award are...
Primary sector
- Jennifer Holland and Melissa Travers of Latham Primary School, Latham ACT
- Kate Howard of Our Lady of Mt Carmel Primary School, Alexandria NSW
Secondary sector
- John Horley of Gisborne Secondary College, Gisborne VIC
- Ronél Bothma of All Hallows School, Brisbane QLD
Our congratulations to the finalists on their outstanding achievement.
Sincere thanks also to our judges:
- Leigh Rayner, Assistant Director, Career Development Section, DEEWR
- Peter Carey, National President CDAA
- Anna Lichtenberg, ACS representative, and co-editor ACS newsletter.
The ACS would like to thank all entrants for their participation and commend them for the excellence of their submissions and the work they are doing.
The winners will be announced at the CDAA Conference in Melbourne in April 2009.
Nomination and judging process
About
The award is sponsored by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR).
The award celebrates the achievement of individual career teachers and seeks to help advance career development nationally in both primary and secondary schools.
History
The award, originally called the ACS National Innovation in School Careers Programs Award, has been running since 2000. The change in name in 2004 recognised Judith Leeson's contribution to the field of career development.
Judith Leeson is the former president of the Australian Association of Career Counsellors (now known as the Career Development Association of Australia), and inaugural President and founding member of the Career Industry Council of Australia. She is involved in responding to Federal Government departments on issues relating to career development and in developing a strong relationship between policy makers, researchers and practitioners.
Eligibility
The award is open to all government, independent, Catholic and other denominational schools in Australia that offer a career or life/work program. A winner and runner-up will be selected from both the primary and secondary school sectors.
Nominations and judging process
Finalists are short-listed on the basis of written responses from the nomination form, against the following assessment criteria.
Judges look for applicants who:
- demonstrate excellence in their delivery of career education
- ensure the career program is supported by the school executive team and staff as a whole
- initiate and implement strong partnerships with parents, local community, industry and employers
- support and advocate a broad range of career paths to students.
The judging panel comprises representatives of the careers profession from different states, a DEEWR representative and an ACS representative. The panel will review all nominations and develop a shortlist of four finalists who will be interviewed to decide the winners.
Prizes
All four finalists — two primary and two secondary — will be funded to attend the 2009 CDAA Annual National Careers Conference in Melbourne, 15-17 April 2009, where the winners will be announced.
The winner's schools will each receive $5000 and the finalist's schools will each receive $3000.
Email acsaward@curriculum.edu.au if you have any questions or require further information.
