Congratulations to the State Finalists in the 2023 Australian Teacher Aide of the Year Awards.
The 2023 Finalists have been recognised for their positive impact on student learning and wellbeing, collaboration with teachers and colleagues, and improved practice through professional development and training, in their schools.
Thank you to the school leaders who made time to recognise the work of their teacher aides by submitting a nomination. We hope you are inspired by our outstanding finalists and enjoy reading about the significant contribution they are making to students, their schools, and the community.
State Finalist
Vanny Ho
Dickson College - Secondary Introductory English Centre (SIEC), ACT
Nominated by: Reece Cheater, Executive Teacher of SIEC
Vanny Ho, a Learning Support Assistant (LSA) at Dickson College - Secondary Introductory English Centre, is the Australian Capital Territory Finalist in the 2023 Australian Teacher Aide of the Year Awards.
Vanny contributes significantly to the learning and wellbeing of students at Dickson College, and her commitment to lifelong learning, willingness to share knowledge, and ability to implement best practices have positively impacted both students and staff.
“Vanny has worked at Dickson College for thirty-three years providing wellbeing and learning support to migrant and refugee students in the Secondary Introductory English Centre. (SIEC) Her impact is generational, and we often have students return to the SIEC to reconnect with her and share their successes,” said Reece Cheater, Executive Teacher of SIEC.
Vanny supports English as a second language learners in the classroom and has improved the wellbeing of students by modelling inclusive practices to build positive partnerships with learners and their families. This has enabled Vanny to identify the challenges of students and effectively collaborate with teachers to develop and implement strategies to support their individual needs.
Vanny’s ability to create safe and inclusive learning environments, is exemplified through her support of a student with a refugee background and hearing loss. Vanny kept detailed records, collected data on his wellbeing, met with his teachers to share the information, advocated for evidence-based adjustments in the classroom, enabling the team to create an adjustment matrix with strategies to assist him to access his learning.
Since the adjustments were implemented, the student’s attendance has increased, with significant improvements to his speaking and listening skills. As well, the student was enabled to maintain his cultural identity.
Vanny actively collaborates with colleagues across the ACT to understand the needs of students, teachers, community partners, and network schools.
She has formed a strong partnership with the Red Cross to successfully support the transition of refugee students to the SIEC. Vanny identified that refugee students at the early stage of their enrolment required ongoing medical and dental appointments and were missing significant learning. She proactively connected with the manager of the Red Cross, to assist caseworkers and families to streamline their appointments. This ensured teachers were aware of the appointments prior to lessons and could adjust their practice accordingly.
Vanny has consistently demonstrated dedication to improving her practice through professional
development and training. She engages in professional conversations and establishes professional development goals to guide her continual improvement. She participates in regular coaching meetings to reflect on her successes, identify knowledge and skill gaps, and set goals that support her to improve student learning and promote best practice in the classroom.
State Finalist
Jeddah Taorei
Goomeri State School, QLD
Nominated by: Brendan Keenan, Classroom Teacher
Jeddah Taorei, a Teacher Aide at Goomeri State School, is the Queensland Finalist in the 2023 Australian Teacher Aide of the Year Awards.
Jeddah is making a significant contribution to literacy learning and student wellbeing at Goomeri State School.
“Jeddah has been a teacher aide for over 8 years. She espouses an ‘anything is possible with effort’ philosophy and has positively impacted the success of hundreds if not thousands of students in the South Burnett area,” said Year 2 teacher, Brendan Keenan.
Jeddah has made a positive impact on student learning and wellbeing outcomes through group literacy intervention, and social and emotional support for students with a range of speech language disabilities, intellectual disabilities, and autism spectrum disorder.
She works in partnership with the region’s speech pathologist to implement intervention programs and conducts weekly extension phonics and literacy intervention. Jeddah provides detailed feedback to both the speech pathologist and classroom teachers, of areas where students are achieving, and areas needing further support, ensuring students receive the appropriate support.
She also collaborates with HOSES on aspects of the Queensland Kindergarten learning guidelines, to identify and provide targeted support to students, and differentiate learning. For example, Jeddah identified a student needing fine motor practice, and provided short daily practice exercises to improve dexterity and strength.
As a result of Jeddah’s work, 54% of students who started school unable to read, passed a diagnostic screening test with 97-100% accuracy, and one student progressed to no longer requiring speech language intervention.
Jeddah collaborates effectively with teachers, colleagues, and external staff, and has helped increase student wellbeing and their drive to succeed.
Jeddah collaborates with the classroom teacher to identify student achievement, adapt lessons to the specific needs of students, share information on trauma informed practice and behaviour, and assist with regulation of emotion activities.
Through her collaboration with the Year 2 teacher, and playground staff, to tailor strategies in students’ Individual Behaviour Support Plans, Jeddah has contributed to a 58% drop in major and minor behaviour incidents, over one term.
Jeddah actively seeks opportunities to improve her practice through continuous professional development and training.
As a result of the systematic synthetic phonics training Jeddah attended, she implemented literacy intervention groups aligned with Version 9 of the Australian curriculum, leading to increased literacy levels.
State Finalist
Roberto Crespan
Claremont College, TAS
Nominated by: Rachel Barnstable, Support Teacher
Roberto Crespan, an Educational Support Professional (ESP) at Claremont College is the Tasmanian Finalist in the 2023 Australian Teacher Aide of the Year Awards.
Roberto supports high and additional needs students in the school’s Next Step Program and in mainstream classes such as woodwork and automotive. He has additional responsibilities organising the Driving for Jobs program and the Breakfast Club.
Roberto plays a crucial role in implementing various initiatives to enhance student learning and wellbeing, including organising and implementing the schoolwide breakfast club, partnering with RACT to offer the Driving for Jobs Program, and assisting students with additional needs achieve TCE or TCEA outcomes.
He facilitates the driving program by identifying students who require support to gain their license, and collaborates with the student, their family and teaching staff to determine the support the student requires for success.
Through his efforts in the Driving for Jobs program 13 students in 2022, and 14 students in 2023, gained their learners licence, and an additional fourteen students obtained their provisional licence. These initiatives have created opportunities for employment and promoted attendance and confidence among students at Claremont college.
Roberto collaborates with teachers and colleagues to develop and implement learning plans and find alternative ways to assist students achieve their personal and academic goals. He assists in lesson planning and unit design and ensures that resources are available and up to date to support student learning by assisting teachers in sourcing relevant materials. He also provides additional support and guidance to students in small groups, resulting in improved student engagement and achievement.
Roberto has demonstrated a commitment to ongoing professional development and training that has contributed to the success of programs at Claremont College. He is a positive role model for new ESP staff, and mentors new staff to ensure they are equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to support student learning.
He is actively involved in the school-wide professional development plan with focus on Trauma-Informed Practices and Inclusive Practices models and applies these practices with students by understanding their individual needs and responding with the appropriate strategies. Roberto has also taken initiative to gain professional development across the technology-based subjects to enable students to be integrated inclusively into programs that would otherwise be out of their scope.
“The school serves highly disadvantaged students, and Roberto is committed to providing inclusive and trauma-informed support to all students through school-wide professional development. He applies these practices with students, and his inclusive and trauma-informed support contributes to a safe and supportive school environment for all students,” said Rachel Barnstable, Support Teacher.
State Finalist
Jodie Pettit
Balwyn High School, VIC
Nominated by: Hamish Anderson, Assistant Principal
Jodie Pettit, a Learning Support Assistant (LSA) at Balwyn High School, is the Victorian Finalist in the 2023 Australian Teacher Aide of the Year Awards.
Jodie’s nomination demonstrates her outstanding contribution to teaching and learning at Balwyn High School through her advocacy for vulnerable students, impact on student progress and development of ‘life-skills.’
“Jodie has been central to the engagement in learning and positive wellbeing for all our students, particularly students with physical disability. Through her values of integrity, optimism, and empathy, Jodie leads with a whole-hearted approach, to ensure reasonable adjustments are made so all students experience growth, as aligned with the Department of Education and Training’s priorities,” said Hamish Anderson, Assistant Principal.
Jodie is a passionate advocate for the most vulnerable students at the school and ensures all students funded on the Program for Students with Disabilities are provided the best possible care and access to education.
Over the past year, Jodie has worked closely with a student who is legally blind and another student with spina bifida. As a result of the interventions provided by Jodie to support the students to engage in learning and support their wellbeing, the students continue to make significant progress.
As senior Learning Support Assistant, Jodie contributes to improved collaboration with teachers and colleagues, and assists classroom teachers review lesson plans to ensure differentiation and/or modification is appropriate to engage all learners and their needs are met.
Jodie collaborates with the Learning Support Assistant team through weekly reflection on student learning and behaviour outcomes and timetabling, to ensure equity across the team and to support the development of best practice.
Jodie undertakes continuous professional learning on inclusive education so students with disability can participate in learning on the same basis as their peers, and mentors new Learning Support Assistants through professional conversations, scaffolding support strategies in the classroom, and role-modelling best practice through observations.
Significantly, over the past year Jodie has capitalised on her learning through the State-wide Vision Resource Centre, Visiting Teachers from the DET and self-directed online Braille courses, to ensure a student who is legally blind can access learning and engage within the school community.
Jodie has developed proficiency in supporting students with visual disabilities, overwrites learning materials to support teachers and other LSAs; provides professional learning to other LSAs in the use of technologies, and engages in learning intervention support with classroom teachers.
As a result, teachers have gained a greater sense of confidence in the use of resources to ensure the student can connect with learning and engage in the community, and the student and family feel very well supported by the school community.
State Finalist
Kathryn Collins
Tambellup Primary School, WA
Nominated by: Sue Sheridan, Level 3 Classroom Teacher
Kathryn Collins, a Special Needs Education Assistant at Tambellup Primary School, is the Western Australia Finalist in the 2023 Australian Teacher Aide of the Year Awards.
Kathryn provides support in the Kindergarten, Pre-Primary, and the Year 1 room, and is making a significant positive impact at Tambellup Primary School.
Kathryn designs and implements physiotherapy, speech therapy and occupational therapy programs. She trials and collects data and maintains records for external staff to adjust provided programs.
Kathryn uses augmentative communication devices to meet the diverse language needs students, and has effectively implemented boundary training, so that the neurodiverse and Kindergarten children who are inclined to be flight risks, are kept safe.
An example of Kathryn’s impact has been the complete transformation of an ASD student, whom Kathryn has worked with for the last three years to implement boundary training, keyword signing, toileting and explicitly teach academic skills and concepts.
“The progress this child has made in all areas has been outstanding. Fast forward to today and the student can use key word signing, communicate with visuals, use assistive technology, lines up with her peers on the bell, and is no longer a flight risk. She can complete given tasks independently, to the best of her ability,” said Sue Sheridan, Level 3 Classroom Teacher.
Kathryn is a crucial member of the teaching team in the Early Childhood room and collaborates effectively with colleagues to support all children meet their learning outcomes, supports less experienced colleagues, and mentor new team members.
Kathryn has collaborated with the class teacher to design a timetable that is easy for everyone to follow, ensuring that it includes individual therapy time as well as explicit teaching of new skills, practise of previously learnt concepts and opportunities for students to work, play and interact with their peers. She has also set up individualised recording systems so that each child’s development can be recorded.
As a result of Kathryn’s input, students continue to make significant progress in all areas of their learning, and she has been the catalyst which has enabled children who have started school as non- verbal to be able to communicate with their peers and with the teaching staff, through the use of signing and verbal communication.
Kathryn continually strives to improve her practice through ongoing professional learning.
She has undertaken online learning to further her understanding of Autism, Augmented and Assistive Communication, and Classroom Management and Positive Behaviours in Schools, and of restorative justice practises. Kathryn is currently the internal coach of the Positive Behaviours in School’s team.
