Showcase Excellence Awards Jack Piazzey Award for Principal of the Year
Winner of Metropolitan Award and Finalist for the State Award
Terry Heath
Terry Heath, Principal of Yeronga State High School (YSHS) is an exceptional leader who draws on highly effective leadership practices in guiding our school to success. Embracing the need for the co-existence of both transformational and instructional leadership approaches (Fullan, 2002; Robinson et al, 2009), Terry identified and addressed concerning trends in student outcomes - elevating YSHS from one of the lowest to one of the highest achieving schools in Queensland. Since arriving in 2007, Terry has transformed YSHS through a new school vision and a sustained focus on literacy, alternative pathways, collaboration, teacher capability and leadership programs tailored to the complex needs of our culturally diverse student population. With the school's core values of quality, harmony, and sustainability, Terry has advocated for change to provide high equity and high quality education, to enable all students to reach their potential. Significant improvements are evidenced through students' academic and transitioning achievements; success through pathway programs; and school, staff and parent opinion surveys. Terry drives the school to continually innovate, review and improve, with his relentless commitment to developing himself and others enabling staff to achieve high professional standards and quality evidence-based professional practices to which many other schools now aspire.
Showcase Excellence Awards Teacher of the Year
Commendation
Kerrie Hopewell
Kerrie Hopewell is an exceptional teacher-leader who successfully created pathways for student learning and achieved high standards of collegial professionalism not only across Yeronga State High School (YSHS) but also the extended school community. In line with YSHS's vision Quality Pathways to Success, and committed to improving student outcomes through evaluating and improving teaching and learning programs, Kerrie dedicated herself to the development of diverse student pathways that accommodated all learning styles to ensure that students had every opportunity to succeed. The unique and diverse cultural backgrounds of YSHS's students, more than half of whom have English as a Second Language, created additional challenges in achieving success through traditional learning and pathways, prompted Kerrie to initiate a range of new programs tailored to our Year 10 -12 students' needs. In doing so, she not only ensured successful students' academic outcomes, but also provided a bridge between school and higher education or the world of work. Her relentless commitment to developing herself and others enabled students, in spite of their various backgrounds, to succeed. Significant improvements are evidenced through students' academic and transitioning achievements; success through pathway programs; and school, staff and parent opinion surveys.