Gary Tilley wins the Prime Minister’s Teaching Award K-6
On Wednesday 19th October, in the Great Hall of Parliament
House, Canberra, Gary was awarded the 2016 Prime
Minister’s Science Award for Teaching Excellence, Primary.
It was thoroughly deserved, the fulfilment for a lifetime
dedicated to communicating science and inspiring an
interest in science to primary children, teachers, trainee
teachers, parents and the wider community, and clearly was
the pinnacle of a career.
Gary was invited to write some words about the experience,
hoping it will make more teachers aware of the opportunities
available to them through their professional organisations.
“Like all teachers I worked hard, was dedicated to my school
and students, and used every “hook” I could to get children
and their families learning about and doing science. When
something didn’t work, I looked for alternatives, sought new
collaborations, taught myself more, read widely and explored
museums and science institutions for ways to make science a
way of life for the students.
“Like all teachers, my thoughts and actions were directed
towards the wellbeing of the students, but something
remarkable happened along the way that was beyond my
experience and expectations.
“Science became a way of life for the students and their
families at Seaforth Primary School. Children became so
engaged in science that their parents began collaborating on
art works, displays, models and funding projects, and worked
beside their children to learn. The enthusiasm became
infectious and science flourished in ways I could never have
imagined!
“We’ve all heard the adage that home and school working
together give the children the best opportunity for learning
– this is exactly what happened at Seaforth P.S! We created
a ‘Space Gallery’, a ‘Dinosaur and Cretaceous Marine Reptile
Gallery’, an ‘Earth Sciences Gallery’ and a ‘Marine Sciences
Gallery’ (that together were referred to lovingly by the
community as the ‘Seaforth Natural History Museum’). It
became a place where children lived and breathed science.
Scientists, science institutions, universities and businesses
flocked to be a part of it.
“I knew something special was going on but hadn’t realised
the scale of it until we held our first Science Open Night at
the school. Normally at Seaforth P.S. a large crowd was up
to 200 people, but our night saw the building bulging with
1000! Science continued to gather strength, momentum and
supporters.
“After school we ran a Science Club, the ‘Science as Art’
project, a ‘Girls in Science Night’, ‘Science Photography’ and
Competitions. When I tired the parents came to the rescue
and began helping in droves, so it was possible to have
Receiving the Prime Minister’s Award in the Great Hall,
Parliament House, at a gala event
small groups supported by adults to supplement the openended investigations we were doing, and they also assisted
gathering supplies and sponsors. Scientists gave resources
and their time to support learning and direct students to real
science learning.
“The CSIRO’s “Scientists and Mathematicians in Schools”
program (SMiS) was crucial to the success of the science
at Seaforth. Their staff and online resources such as ‘Do It
Yourself Science’ and “Science by Email’ were extremely
valuable. I thoroughly recommend teachers, especially those
teaching K-6, to become involved, and accessing these to
bring depth to their science work.
“The ABC has an extensive science network that gives great
support and I can recommend that teachers access their
ABC Science Online website! The resources and links are
sensational. Of course now we have SPLASH available.
“Contacts with the Geological Society of Australia, GeoScience
Australia, Earth Sciences Division of CSIRO and Macquarie
Uni are invaluable in developing displays. Astronomers were
generous in their gift of time and resources, the Australian
Astronomical Observatory (AAO), Rob Hollows from
CSIRO’s CAASTRO, Geoff Wyatt and the staff at the Sydney
Observatory, and numerous individual astronomers such
as Dr David Malin, Professor Fred Watson, Dr Angel LopezSanchez, Dr Amanda Bauer and Professor Brian Schmidt
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