Congratulations to ACHPER Victoria’s 2023 Award recipients
Victoria’s passionate and dedicated health and physical education (HPE) community came together on 28 June at Melbourne Museum to celebrate and honour those who have made significant contributions to health, physical education, and recreation at our “Elevating Achievement” 2023 ACHPER Victoria awards night.
It was wonderful to celebrate the incredible work being done in the field of HPE, and truly inspiring to witness the impact that each of our award winners is making on the lives of students in schools across Victoria and the broader community.
The awards recognise and encourage excellence demonstrated by individuals through academic study, research and professional practice.
Thank you to everyone who nominated and to the many dedicated members and affiliates who have worked with us to support our vision of ‘Active and Healthy Victorians’.
Read on for the full list of award winners for 2023.
Excellence in Teaching Awards 2023 – HPE Teacher of the Year
The Excellence in Teaching Awards – HPE Teacher of the Year award is open to current practicing primary or secondary teachers in Victorian schools within ACHPER’s areas of focus. Winners have demonstrated excellence in relation to their professional knowledge, practice, innovation and engagement in the teaching of physical education, health education, and/or outdoor education.
ACHPER Victoria HPE Teacher of the Year (Primary F-6)
Travis Colley – Kangaroo Flat Primary School
Travis is a dedicated and inclusive teacher who makes students feel seen and heard and promotes innovative programs at Kangaroo Flat Primary School. Travis' commitment to his students, his mentoring roles and wellbeing focus has earned him recognition for his outstanding contributions to the school and community.
ACHPER Victoria HPE Teacher of the Year (Secondary 7-12)
Belinda Dalziel – Beaconhills College
Belinda is a VCE Outdoor Education and Health teacher at Beaconhills College, known for her dedication to teaching and learning, active involvement in building professional learning opportunities for other teachers, and creating active learning environments for her students.
Innovative Program 2023 award – Primary and Secondary
These awards are open to any Victorian primary school or secondary school demonstrating overall excellence as it relates to ACHPER’s areas of focus. The innovative program does not necessarily have to comprise the entire HPE curriculum but may focus on one or more parts of it. The program should be original and innovative in approach and have completed at least one full cycle of implementation to be considered. A program might be something developed across the entire school or focus on one, or two, year levels or possibly across a group of schools within a network.
ACHPER Victoria Innovative Program Award 2023 Primary
‘Active Travel at D.C.C’ | Neville Stephens, Physical Education teacher at Dohertys Creek P-9 College
The Active Travel program at Dohertys Creek College aims to promote active transportation to school and address traffic safety and health concerns by educating students on the environmental and physical benefits of active travel, engaging with the parent community, and working with the local council and organisations to bring change to this young school in one of Melbourne’s major growth corridors.
ACHPER Victoria Innovative Program Award 2023 for Secondary
‘Wyndham Central College's Festival of Fun and Fitness’ | Rebecca Sandlant, Assistant Principal, Wyndham Central College
Wyndham Central College's "Festival of Fun and Fitness" is an afterschool sports program that provides students with free access to a wide range of sports, aiming to address barriers such as cost and transportation constraints while encouraging participation and getting students back into physical activity and sports after the impact of COVID. The team at Wyndham has brought the community to the school with the program providing students access to an extensive afterschool physical activity and sports program, free of charge over a five-week block each term, all run by qualified sports coaches.
Award for Distinction for Most Outstanding Research
ACHPER Victoria is focussed on enhancing, supporting and advocating for highest quality health and physical education. Our tertiary research awards celebrate the achievements of the newest members to our profession and highlight outstanding student research contributing new knowledge. The Award of Distinction for Most Outstanding Research recognises outstanding student research making an original and valuable contribution to knowledge in ways which connect with and advance our understanding of the fields within ACHPER’s areas of focus. This award recognises the most outstanding research from a completed Doctoral project.
Award of Distinction for Most Outstanding Research – Doctoral Research
Dr Jiani Ma – Deakin University
Research title: Unpacking the 'black box': Implementation evaluation of interventions to improve motor competence in children and adolescents.
Outstanding Graduating Student awards 2023
Celebrating the achievements of 2023’s best and brightest champions of HPE, we are very proud to announce and honour the following award recipients:
Special thanks to ACHPER Victoria’s partners
ACHPER Victoria could not do our work or host evenings like this without the support of our fantastic partners which include:
Road Safety Education Victoria (major awards night event sponsors)
The Road Safety Education Victoria website is a hub of educational activities and resources relating to road safety in Victoria. Aimed at educators, parents and carers, students, and young drivers, the website brings together the collective expertise of the Victorian Government Road Safety Partners including the Transport Accident Commission (TAC), Department of Transport and Planning, Victoria Police and Public Transport Victoria. The website includes road safety school programs, including lesson plans and other resources to help educators and families learn about Road Safety from early childhood through to tertiary studies and learner and novice drivers.
RHSports
RHSports is our annual partner and sponsor of our HPE Teacher Award trophies and prize packs this evening excellence and recognising the outstanding achievements within our community.
To take a look at a gallery of photos from the evening, please head to our Facebook page here >>