Address to the 2026 Schools Plus Teaching Awards

Thank you and welcome to Parliament House.

I begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people, the traditional owners and custodians of the lands on which we meet and pay my respects to Elders, past and present.

I would also like to acknowledge:

• CEO of Schools Plus Sherrill Nixon.
• The Chair of Schools Plus David Fridelander and the Board. 
• Schools Plus Pioneers here tonight - Belinda Hutchinson, Christine Simpson Stokes, Roger Massey-Greene and Lailani Mirkazemi and the inimitable David Gonski.
• CEO of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority ACARA Stephen Gniel.
• CEO of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership Tim Bullard.

I also want to acknowledge the family of Lee Casuscelli.

Lee was with us last year but is not with us tonight.

We all feel the immense loss of losing Lee and she is in our hearts.

I also want to recognise Cathy Fry and her husband Malcolm.

As you probably know, Cathy was my first grade teacher.

She was here up on stage last year and she is here again tonight.

She didn’t tell you this last year, but Cathy brought along my Year 1 spelling results.

I got 49 out of 50.

I thought that was pretty good. But then she showed me half the class got 50 out of 50.

Next year Cathy will celebrate being a school teacher for 50 years.

Tonight, we’re here to recognise and celebrate 13 extraordinary teachers.

I can’t tell you every story, but I do want to tell you a few.

Can I start by telling you the story of a 17 year old girl who dropped out of high school a few years ago.

One day she went to an awards event at a school assembly.

She was there because her boyfriend went to that school, so she decided to tag along. 
 
When she got there, she saw what the school was doing.   

She talked to the teachers, and she talked to the Principal.  

And she was inspired.

So inspired she decided to give school another go. 

That Principal wrapped her arms around her. 

And that young girl worked hard. 

And not only did she finish high school. 

She went on to university.

And now, she’s doing a PhD.

A PhD in education. 

From dropping out to getting a PhD.

That’s extraordinary.

That Principal is Kate O’Donnell. 

That student told Kate that she changed her life.

You bet she did.

It’s what teachers do every day. It’s why this is the most important job in the world.

Let me give you another example.

This is a music teacher.

One of her students was a young Aboriginal boy who wasn’t coming to school every day.  

He was getting involved with crime.

This teacher connected him with an Aboriginal Elder who taught him how to play the didgeridoo.

She taught him other instruments too. 
 
This boy started asking if he could take the instruments home because he wanted to practice after school.

This little boy’s mum couldn’t believe the change she saw in her son.

His mum asked the teacher, ‘What’s happening at school?’

She thanks her every time she sees her.
 
This teacher now runs a free music program at school for more than 200 kids. 

And sometimes when she is conducting the choir she cries.

Why? Because she can hear the passion pouring out of them.

That’s what brings her back to school every day.

That teacher, with the tears in her eyes, is Steph Insanally.  

Here’s another one.

About a 17 year old boy who had been in and out of school for years.

At this school there are a lot of kids who are refugees, who don’t speak a lot of English.

A lot of kids like him who had missed out on a lot.

This teacher developed a program with a literacy coordinator and speech pathologists, to help kids like him catch up.  

One day he brought a few of his mates into the classroom.

I want you to imagine the biggest smile in the whole world and that boy saying ‘I can write a sentence now. Let me show you.’

A boy so proud he could write a sentence he had to show his mates. 
  
That’s life changing.

That teacher’s name is Josh Basford.

This is you. This is all of you.

Last week in Parliament I told another story.

You have heard me say the reading wars are over. That we know what works.

At this school three years ago, they did a phonics check.

About 20 per cent of kids in Year 1 were on track with their reading.

They did the same check last year.

Now it’s over 80 per cent.

They did it again this year and it’s the same, so it’s not a fluke.

Just think how different those kids’ lives will be because of that.

Because of what is happening there in Year 1.

That school is in the heart of housing commission in Western Sydney.

Half the kids are Indigenous.

And that change is happening because of a Principal and her team.

A Principal who went to that same school when she was a little girl.

That Principal is Tammy Anderson.

What I’m trying to say is this is no ordinary job.

You don’t just change the lives of kids like these.

You change the lives of the kids they will have. And the community they live in and the country we can potentially become.

Because if they finish school, their kids are more likely to finish school too.

And for every child who stops you and says thank you, there are thousands more who think it.

I promise you that.

I was on a subway train in New York about 20 years ago.

And I saw an ad. A really simple ad.

Black background, white writing.

It said:

“You remember your first-grade teacher’s name. Who will remember yours?”

I remember Mrs Fry.

And they will remember you.

How could they not?

It’s an honour to share the stage with you tonight.