Celebrating excellence in teaching and learning

Dr Caitlin Munday, recipient of Dr Robert Iles Award for Outstanding Classroom Practice

Ms Chloe Collett, Richard Blackett Medal for the Inspirational Teaching of Boys

The success of a Scots boy’s journey is fundamentally shaped by the quality of his teachers. More broadly, developing and recognising expertise in teachers is critical to both the continued improvement of teaching and learning across the College and within the guild of teaching at large. To celebrate some of the many outstanding educators at the College, two special staff prizes are awarded annually at Speech Day.

The Dr Robert Iles Award for Outstanding Classroom Practice was instituted by the former Principal, Dr Robert Iles AM, to recognise the impact of early career teachers on their students and colleagues. In the presence of Dr and Mrs Iles, this award was presented in 2017 to Dr Caitlin Munday. With a background in drama education and arts research, Dr Munday has served at the College since 2014 as a Research Fellow with a focus on staff professional learning. Along with her creative and consultative leadership of the Staff Professional Development days, she has been responsible for the development of a wide range of outstanding new programs to celebrate and deepen teachers' expertise. She has also taught Drama, Christian Studies, and HSC Studies of Religion with great passion and care for her boys.

The Richard Blackett Medal for the Inspirational Teaching of Boys was endowed by Old Boys in honour of one of the College’s longest-serving and most-respected teachers. In 2017 the Medal was awarded in 2017 to Ms Chloe Collett who teaches in the Preparatory School. Ms Collett represented Scots in the 2016-2017 International Boys' Schools Coalition Action Research cycle. Her project on 'Encouraging perseverance in Year 5 boys through collaborative problem-solving in Mathematics', presented at the 2017 IBSC Annual Conference in Baltimore, was judged as among the top ten presentations worldwide. Ms Collett is a passionate, wise, and caring educator who truly demonstrates the spirit of Mr Richard Blackett and the ideals of a Scots education.

We look forward to continuing to celebrate the growth of expert communities of knowledge, practice and formation among our staff, both teachers and our committed support teams, as we seek to cultivate ‘higher learning for the common weal’.

Dr Hugh Chilton
Director of Research and Professional Learning

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