NATIONAL LITERACY AND NUMERACY WEEK 2006
AWARDS
FOR
SCHOOLS
NATIONAL
GUIDELINES
NLNW AWARDS
Purpose of the Awards
The National Literacy and Numeracy Week (NLNW) Awards for schools are cash Awards provided by the Australian Government, made to schools demonstrating excellence in teaching literacy and/or numeracy.
The purpose of the National Literacy and Numeracy Week Awards is to reward and showcase the fine work school communities are undertaking in improving literacy and/or numeracy outcomes of their students and to recognise the outstanding results that have been achieved. The Awards represent a great opportunity for teachers to highlight the important work they do and for schools to become role models for other Australian schools. Please note that the NLNW Awards are for results achieved, not for proposed plans.
The Awards have a strong equity focus, and recognise that schools have different starting points in terms of students’ literacy and/or numeracy outcomes. Awards will go to schools that have added significantly and consistently to students’ literacy and/or numeracy performance over time, not just to those scoring highest in literacy and/or numeracy testing. This is not to say that schools putting in a submission should focus on the lowest achieving students.
Professional associations and parent bodies have been invited to support National Literacy and Numeracy Week 2006 by promoting the Awards through their networks.
2006 Award Categories
In 2006 there will be a total of 57 NLNW Awards available for Schools, with a total value of $345,000.
A total of eight (8) NLNW 2006 Excellence Awards, each worth $10,000, will be available in the Government Schools Category. These schools will be the highest achieving school in each State and Territory, as determined by State and Territory Selection Committees.
A total of four (4) NLNW 2006 Excellence Awards, each worth $10,000, will be available in the Non-Government Schools Category. These schools will be selected by a National Selection Committee from nominations put forward by each State and Territory Committee.
Government and Non-Government Schools that are not selected as an Excellence Award winning school may receive one of 45 Highly Commended Awards, worth $5,000 each, as determined by the State and Territory Selection Committees.
The same assessment criteria will apply to all Awards.
All schools that participate in the Awards by submitting an application will be provided with a participation certificate signed by the Australian Government Minister for Education, Science and Training, in recognition of their efforts to improve literacy and/or numeracy outcomes.
SELECTION PROCESS
A Selection Committee will be established in each State/Territory to assess schools’ submissions. These committees will include representatives from the Government and Non-Government school sectors, as well as a representative from the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training. Parents and professional organisations may also be represented. The Committee will carefully consider all eligible applications against the criteria listed below. Members of the Selection Committee may choose to visit some shortlisted schools.
Each State / Territory Selection Committee will recommend one school for an NLNW 2006 Excellence Award in the Government Schools Category and up to 3 nominations for Excellence Awards in the Non-Government Category to be considered by the National Selection Panel. A National Panel comprising nominees from the National Catholic Education Commission; the Independent Schools Council of Australia; the University of Canberra; and Departmental representatives will recommend the 4 Excellence Award winning schools in the Non-Government category to the Minister for her consideration.
The Australian Government Minister for Education, Science and Training will make the final decision, having regard for the selection process and the decisions of the Selection Committee members. The 2006 Excellence Awards will be announced and presented by the Minister at a national ceremony in Sydney in the week prior to National Literacy and Numeracy Week 2006.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA AND SELECTION INFORMATION
All Australian government and non-government primary and secondary schools catering for students up to Year 10 are eligible to apply for a National Literacy and Numeracy 2006 Award.
Please note: Previous winners of an NLNW Excellence Award ($10,000) are ineligible to receive another NLNW Award for the same work. Previous winners of NLNW Highly Commended or Achievement Awards are eligible to re-apply.
Each submission must be no longer than 8 pages long (using Arial 11 pt font) and address the criteria outlined below. This page limit does not include the two page cover sheet. Applications must be submitted on the official NSW NLNW 2006 submission form available for download at http://www.nlnw.nsw.edu.au
The form provides useful prompts to assist you in the submission writing process. Schools are strongly encouraged to make use of these prompts to give their application the best chance. The prompts should be deleted once the submission is finalised.
All submissions should be capable of being promoted as best practice examples.
No additional information will be considered and should not be forwarded with a submission.
Closing Date for Submissions:
The NSW closing date for submissions is Friday 19 May 2006.
Please consult NSW Supporting Information for specific requirements and additional information on forwarding your submission, including how submissions are to be lodged. This information can be accessed at http://www.nlnw.nsw.edu.au/
Incomplete or late Nominations
The NLNW 2006 Awards Selection Committee in each State and Territory reserves the right not to accept incomplete or late applications, in its absolute discretion.
School logo
The school must provide a copy of the school’s logo in JPEG or TIF format – not in a WORD document. If a school is successful in winning an NLNW 2006 Excellence Award, this logo will be used to create a set of special ‘school stamps’ featuring the school’s logo which will be presented at the national ceremony. The image must be at least 2 cm x 3 cm and 300 dpi to obtain a clear image on the stamp. Please refer to State / Territory supporting documentation for specific requirements.
Assessment criteria
The following criteria will be used to assess schools’ submissions for Awards.
1. Progressing the National Plan
Schools must demonstrate that they are progressing the implementation of the National Literacy and Numeracy Plan which supports attainment of the national literacy and numeracy goals. The National Plan is at Attachment A for your information. In particular, schools submitting for an Award must demonstrate that they have implemented an effective approach to improving literacy and/or numeracy outcomes that has value-added to students’ performance. By ‘value-added’, it is meant that a school’s approach has significantly improved students’ literacy and/or numeracy performance, given those students’ starting points.
2. Evidence of student improvement
Submissions must include data that clearly demonstrate student improvement against baseline data on educational outcomes in literacy and/or numeracy. The purpose of including this data is to demonstrate how your school’s approach has led to improvement in students’ literacy and/or numeracy outcomes.
Data instruments selected by schools should be appropriate to measure value-adding of the approach over time for the targeted cohort of students. Ideally the data collected will include system-based or standardised State data and should span more than one school year to show sustained improvement. Supporting evidence may also include other recognised instruments, data concerning the affective domain, class-based or school-based data.
Interpretation and explanation of the data is very important and should aid the Selection Committee’s understanding of the evidence. To do this effectively, you should:
· Demonstrate progress of a cohort (or cohorts) over time in comparison with State averages or other recognised instruments for the same time period; and /or
· Examine a point (or points) in time and how successive cohorts perform at that point, in comparison with standardised State data or other recognised instruments, and/or moderated scores.
The school level achievement data as presented in submissions will remain confidential. A suitable synthesis of data provided in Award winning submissions will be provided to the Australian Government Minister for Education, Science and Training by State and Territory Selection Committees. The Minister will be able to use this information as part of public recognition of the achievements of NLNW 2006 Award-winning schools and this summarised information will not be treated as confidential.
3. Community involvement
Schools must demonstrate how they have involved their community in their approach to improving students’ literacy and/or numeracy outcomes. This may include, for example, parent involvement and/or community consultation, local partnerships/collaboration with other schools, sectors, professional associations, parent bodies, businesses, charities and other local community organisations.
4. Sustainability
Submissions should also demonstrate the steps the school has taken to ensure its approach will continue to have a positive impact on student learning outcomes. This may include, for example, demonstrating how staff support has been fostered across the school to ensure the approach is not dependent on one or two individuals.
DISCLAIMER
Please note that it is a serious offence to provide false or misleading information. If an application is incomplete or contains information that is considered misleading, it will be excluded.
Ambiguities, discrepancies, inconsistencies, errors or omissions in nominations
The NLNW 2006 Awards Selection Committee in each State and Territory will not accept responsibility for any misunderstanding arising from the failure by a school to comply with the requirements set out in these Guidelines, or arising from any ambiguity, discrepancy, inconsistency, error or omission contained in a submission for a NLNW 2006 Award.
All decisions taken and recommendations made by the NLNW 2006 Awards Selection Committee in each State and Territory, the National Selection Committee and the Australian Government Minister for Education, Science and Training shall be binding and final and no correspondence will be entered into on such matters.
USE OF AWARD MONEY
The cash grant associated with the NLNW 2006 Awards is provided on an unencumbered basis and is awarded in recognition of achievement. Award-winning schools will be able to use their award money for a range of school-based strategies and activities that support further improvements in literacy and/or numeracy. These may include purchasing books, IT support, teaching materials, in-servicing staff or volunteers and employing support staff.
PRIVACY STATEMENT
The deliberations of all Selection Committees and their advisers will remain confidential. The NLNW 2006 Awards Committees reserve the right not to recommend the full allocation of Awards in any year.
All decisions taken and recommendations made by the NLNW 2006 Awards Selection Committee shall be binding and final, and no correspondence will be entered into on such matters.
All material received by the Department from schools or any other source is accepted on the understanding that such material may be used (and may only be used):
· in the process of determining the recommended recipients of the NLNW 2006 Awards;
· for the purposes of informing Federal Members of Parliament and the public about the award outcomes. (Federal Members of Parliament are persons to whom such information is usually disclosed);
· in any Departmental publicity concerning the NLNW 2006 Awards; and
· in any Departmental publicity concerning the promotion of literacy and numeracy education.
Material collected or created by the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST) through the Awards process, such as media statements, interviews, videos and photographs may be used by the Department in the promotion of NLNW or as successful examples of literacy and /or numeracy approaches.
All information collected or created will be treated in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 which prevents personal information from being disclosed without appropriate consent, unless disclosure is required or authorised by law.
The Privacy Act 1988
Section 14 of the Privacy Act 1988 contains the Privacy Principles (IPPs) which prescribe rules for handling personal information. Selection Committees, the National Selection Panel and the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training must comply with the Privacy Act including the IPPs when handling personal information collected for the purpose of administering the NLNW 2006 Excellence Awards for Schools.
In brief, Selection Committees, the National Selection Panel and the Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training must ensure that:
Ø personal information is collected in accordance with IPPs 1-3;
Ø suitable storage arrangements, including appropriate filing procedures are in place;
Ø suitable security arrangements exist for all records containing personal information;
Ø access to a person’s own personal information held by the organisation is made available to the person at no charge;
Ø records are accurate, up-to-date, complete and not misleading;
Ø where a record is found to be inaccurate, the correction is made;
Ø where a person requests that a record be amended because it is inaccurate but the record is found to be accurate, the details of the request for amendment are noted on the record;
Ø the personal information is only to be used for the purposes for which it was collected, or for other purposes where expressly allowed by IPP 10; and
Ø personal information is only disclosed in accordance with IPP 11.
Privacy Complaints and Advice
Complaints about breaches of privacy and requests for advice about privacy should be referred to the Litigation and External Review Section, Procurement, Assurance and Legal Group, in the Department of Education, Science and Training's (DEST) National Office. Privacy complaints can be made directly to the Federal Privacy Commissioner, however the Federal Privacy Commissioner prefers that the Department be given an opportunity to deal with the complaint in the first instance.
FURTHER INFORMATION:
National Web site: http://www.literacyandnumeracy.gov.au
State and Territory NLNW contacts
NSW
Mr Bernard Pryor
VICTORIA
Ms Marzia Magris
QUEENSLAND
Ms Carmel Armstrong
WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Ms Di Rees
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Ms Bev Jones
TASMANIA
Ms Mandy Paske
NORTHERN TERRITORY
Ms Susan Barton Johnson
ACT
Mr Philip Kirby
Links to State and Territory education websites can be accessed at
http://www.literacyandnumeracy.gov.au/2006/states_territories.htm
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Attachment A
The National Literacy and Numeracy Plan
To help support the achievement of the National goals[1], Education Ministers endorsed a National Literacy and Numeracy Plan, which calls for a coordinated approach by the Australian Government and States and Territories to improving literacy and numeracy standards and consists of the following key inter-related elements: