2022 Award Winners
ACHPER NSW is pleased to announce the winners and highly commended for our 2022 PDHPE Teacher Awards. It was a privilege to receive so many fantastic nominations, highlighting the outstanding work of PDHPE educators. Winners receive ACHPER NSW membership and professional learning vouchers, along with great packs from RHSports.
Early Career Teacher category winner
Samantha Rodgers, Narrabeen Sports High School
In her early career years Samantha has delivered exceptional teaching, development of curriculum, PDHPE processes and cutting-edge athlete support.
Samantha designed a specialist High Potential and Gifted Education (HPGE) athlete support program for Narrabeen Sports HS to meet student’s personalised potential goals. It has led to improvements in attendance, individual/school achievement and performance for identified students, as well as greater parent and staff engagement.
Samantha has contributed to 7-12 PDHPE programming enhancements and implemented a successful reflective evaluation process for both staff and students. This has provided useful data in relation to programming and assessment.
She nurtures local partnerships with sporting associations and primary schools and has delivered professional learning on HGPE identification and support, to local school Principals. Samantha’s work ethic, care for students and skills are an asset to her school and students.
Highly commended:
- Harry Menzies, Melba Copland Secondary School
- Hosay Zarmati, Birrong Girls High School
- Elise Campbell, Kildare Catholic College
Secondary Teacher category winner
Ross Montague, Picnic Point High School
Ross is an enthusiastic and highly accomplished teacher delivering innovative ways to engage all students in PE.
Ross has focussed on PE disengagement following the pandemic and lockdowns. Utilising evidence-based data, he has developed new approaches to PE that are centred on enjoyment, non-traditional games and inclusivity.
Building on the Games Sense model, Ross developed Get Active Maintain Energy (GAME). The approach has been introduced throughout the 7-10 syllabus and is designed to encourage students to move, stay active and get off their mobile devices.
‘GAME the game’ has received positive feedback from the whole school community. Benefits include improved communication, decision-making and problem-solving skills, as well as improved physical and emotional outcomes for students. GAME has been adopted in several local high schools and Ross has delivered professional learning at in-school workshops and conferences.
Highly commended:
- Michelle Somers, Canobolas Rural Technology High School
- Jenny Watson, MacKillop College Port Macquarie
School/faculty category – joint winner
SEDA College PDHPE team
The SEDA College Stage 6 PDHPE team works with young people at risk of not finishing high school, successfully re-engaging them with learning and re-igniting their interest in their own futures.
The team incorporate physical activity, mental wellbeing, volunteering and sport industry connection into the PDHPE curriculum. Teachers work alongside students at game days and sport industry events, giving up their own time to ensure students learn responsibility and make industry connections.
The team is constantly refreshing and adapting the curriculum to accommodate different learning styles. Staff focus on reinventing their delivery to ensure it is as active and interactive as possible, to assist kinetic learners and those with learning difficulties.
The SEDA PDHPE team has achieved a completion rate of over 98% for the last 7 years. 55% of students go on to work or study in health, education, or sport and recreation.
School/faculty category – joint winner
Narrabeen Sports High School PDHPE faculty
The hard-working PDHPE faculty from Narrabeen Sports High School PDHPE has transformed the way PDHPE content is delivered at their school with great results.
Through extensive review and consultation with the school community, the team developed personalised scope and sequence for PDHPE and refocussed practical programming and assessment. This included implementation of the Sports Education in Physical Education Program.
The faculty launched a new multi-faceted online platform for students and teachers to support PDHPE delivery, engagement and evaluation. Among its features is a Google website for each program with comprehensive resources, assessment options, and enrichment activities.
The new approach support students who are often on school business for representative commitments and has led to improvement in student attainment, coursework quality and theory lesson engagement. Students are positive about the relevance and relatability of content and delivery. The online platform also enables effective program updates and seamless transition for new staff.
Highly commended:
- PDHPE faculty, Oran Park High School
