By Callum Ludwig
Three staff members of Seville Primary School have been named as finalists in the 2024 Victorian Education Excellence Awards, with the winners set to be announced later this month.
Teachers Sally Colverson and Danielle Henderson make up two of the three finalists for Outstanding Primary Teacher, while Lee Nolan also made the top three for the Outstanding Business Manager awards.
Ms Colverson said it is nice to be recognised for the work and commitment that she’s put into her career.
“I’ve been teaching since I was 22, so for me I’ve dedicated a huge amount of my life to public education and it’s nice to get to the more experienced end of my career and be recognised,” she said.
“I just happened to get nominated and worked through the process but it’s almost like a symbol for teachers who have dedicated their career to stay in the classroom and to do what they’re good at.”
Mr Colverson’s commitment to cultivating the best curriculum that can be offered, with a focus on individualised personal growth for the students. In her nomination, Ms Colverson is credited with being a key part of the development of a comprehensive literacy program and the integration of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) activities into the curriculum at Seville Primary School.
Ms Colverson said the most heartwarming part of the whole nomination process is that classroom teachers are still being acknowledged and appreciated within the Department of Education.
“I’m very committed to effective practice rather than outstanding practice, where you look at your cohorts and you don’t just teach a program, we teach the child and we start from where they’re at and then we develop our curriculum and programs around individual children,” she said.
“We try to understand our students really deeply and how they learn, they have a lot of options for voice and choice within their learning and within the classroom,”
“Learning is celebrated and we do a lot of work on how do we learn and how do we know we are learning, so a lot of feedback and reflection.”
Ms Colverson will face stiff competition for the ultimate prize from her colleague Ms Henderson, whose focus on the wellbeing program at Seville Primary School was a driving factor behind being selected as a finalist.
Ms Henderon said she and Principal Chris Dosser have been working really hard to try and track student wellbeing using data.
“The different forms of data have included different forms of agency from the students to be able to self-report, parents to be able to report and teachers to be able to report data that’s going to allow us to identify students that are at risk or struggling and then proactively put in supports,” she said.
“We’ve recognised within our students that there is a high need for students dealing with anxiety and low levels of resilience so being able to track that with data and support them allows us to then explore and develop ideas to support them with those elements,”
“We strongly believe here at Seville that it’s mental health that underpins everything that we do and it supports learning so if the mental health or the wellbeing of the student is not there then you’re not going to get good results.”
Ms Henderson played a key role in implementing a Positive Behaviour Support model, led the introduction of attendance tracking systems and engagement programs to encourage attendance and participation and also recently completed a Graduate Certificate in Education (Learning Difficulties).
Ms Henderson said the nomination is an honour and while it is an uncomfortable position to be in, to have this support is a really amazing feeling.
“There are thousands and thousands of really talented teachers out there, there’s so much good quality teaching and so many wonderful things being done in schools so I think recognising this is a positive thing but I think we need to do more of it because we’re losing teachers,” she said.
“Getting it out there, showing the community and the general public the amazing things that are happening in schools is such a positive, even while it’s uncomfortable for me to be singled out.”
Lee Nolan is somewhat of a one-woman band behind the office desk at Seville Primary School, having held the role for 12 years.
Ms Nolan said they don’t do their jobs for recognition or praise but do it because they love the job, love the people they work with and love interacting with the students.
“When I was first nominated I felt like I don’t do any more than the other business managers that I know and don’t know around the state but I’m taking it on board as representing them and all the hard work that they do,” she said.
“Being in a small school, the business manager’s role is quite different to larger schools because at larger schools there’s different people that have different roles,” she said.
“Here at Seville, it’s just me in the office, so I have to be very adaptable in my everyday job because I’m doing finances, I’m doing admin, I’m doing reception and I’m doing the PA.”
Ms Nolan’s efforts extend beyond Seville Primary School, however, as she also holds the role of Treasurer of the Yarra Ranges Business Managers Group.
Ms Nolan said she thinks her strength is in being able to balance it all.
“But also to still, most of the time, be the passionate, friendly and approachable person that I am,” she said.
“I like to think that parents and staff are always happy to come to me and even if I don’t know the answer, I’ll always know where to go to get the answer,”
“I’m onto my fourth principal that I’ve trained which has been challenging years but I’ve done it with the support of the leadership teachers behind me.”
Winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Plaza Ballroom on World Teacher’s Day on Friday 25 October, with winners to receive grants of up to $25,000 to undertake professional development and learning.
Mr Dossor said he couldn’t be prouder of the team he has at Seville Primary School.
“When the nomination process came up, it was a discussion with a couple of the parents and the school council as we have such an amazing team here and I’m not going to narrow down to just one nomination so I put them all out there to see how we’d go,” he said.
“To put forward three nominations and then to get three finalists, I’m not surprised because these people are amazing but I’m honoured to be able to work alongside them and see the amazing work that they do day in and day out with the kids and in the community, it’s phenomenal.”
