CASUARINA Street Primary School captains Joshua Halverson and Silvana Goldbach-Eggert have one word to sum up how they feel about being the student leaders of the best school in the Northern Territory: awesome.
The Katherine East school, which is home to 306 students, was named the winner of the NT School Excellence Award on October 31, beating schools from across the Territory for the prestigious title.
In addition, the school was named the best in the Katherine region.
While the top gong comes with a $10,000 prize, senior teacher Craig Pauwels said a dollar figure could not be put on the accolade.
“This award is a reflection of the hard work that has been undertaken at Casuarina Street Primary School over the past two years,” Mr Pauwels said.
“In the longer term, we have developed a culture that promotes learning through a differentiated and systematic approach, by knowing our students well and being able to cater for their individual needs through a personalised approach,” he said.
Mr Pauwels said the approach involved targeting keys areas including data, assessment, differentiated learning, personal learning plans and explicit criteria sheets.
“It has also allowed us to continue the development of a culture of setting high expectations for our students, with challenging- yet-achievable learning goals.”
Education Minister Peter Chandler praised the school’s teachers and staff, and said the win extended Katherine’s classroom credentials.
“Casuarina builds on recent success in the region, with Katherine High School picking up the award last year,” Mr Chandler said.
As the win began to sink in around the school, its excitable captains said they could not wait to tell their parents.
“It’s awesome and cool to know our school is the best,” Joshua beamed.
