Global Teacher Prize

On Monday 14 March, Pope Francis announced the Winner of the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize. Hanan Al Hroub from Palestine, who teaches at the Samiha Khalil High School in the West Bank Palestinian city of Al-Bireh, was presented with the award in the United Arab Emirates.

The Varkey Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation established to improve the standards of education for underprivileged children throughout the world. Their mission is that every child should have a good teacher.

However, there was a local connection within this global competition with Perth teacher, Rick Johnson, from Rostrata Primary School in Willetton appearing in the finalists.

On 17 February, Professor Steven Hawking announced the 10 finalists in a video that can be found here. In this clip Hawking talks about the teacher that provided the inspiration, which led him down the path of his illustrious career. He states, 'It all starts with the seed of love. The love of music. The love of history. For me it was the love of science.' He continues to say 'Today, we need great teachers more than ever. We must always remember, teachers matter.'

At Scotch College, I have no doubt that when asked to name a teacher that inspires them, every boy could easily name the one who connects with them on a level beyond all others. It is for that reason that we work hard with our staff on our professional development programme that at times can conflict with our teachers' other commitments, however as Hawking states; 'Behind every exceptional person there is an exceptional teacher.'

As we have had many parent teacher evenings in the past month, I hope that our community can see the passion that our staff has to maximise the learning potential of every boy. I encourage our parents to develop strong partnerships with our staff to support the work the teachers are completing within the classroom.

Mr Peter Allen

Director of Teaching and Learning