Annual Report 2017– 18 Annual Report 2018-19 We Give Life-Changing Scholarships Contents Our Impact 2 Chair Report 3 Executive Director Report 4 Awards Night 5 2019 Public Education Foundation The Public Education Foundation Scholarship Recipients 6 Our student is a charity dedicated to scholarships address providing life-changing 2018 Minister’s and Secretary’s factors contributing to scholarships to young people in Awards for Excellence 10 What we do disadvantage: public education, their teachers and principals. Scholar Profiles 12 The Foundation is supported Students from low Our People 14 by the NSW Department socio-economic of Education and works in backgrounds collaboration with schools, Monitoring and Evaluation 15 Support communities, the private sector students who face social and economic and the government to help 2018 – 2019 Financial Report 16 disadvantage to achieve their full potential Indigenous students students achieve their full through life-changing scholarships. potential at a public school, Board of Directors 20 while enhancing the value and reputation of public school Donors and Supporters 21 education. Provide Students from professional development opportunities to refugee backgrounds educators and school leaders to enable them to To find out more about our work extend their leadership and teaching skills. please visit our website: Students in rural and remote areas Enhance www.publiceducationfoundation.org.au the value and reputation of Australia’s public schools, ensuring every Australian has access Students living with a to a high-quality, inclusive education. disability ANNUAL REPORT 2018–19 1 Our Chair Report Impact WHAT OUR SCHOLARS SAY ... "Thank you for all your support, you definitely have WE HAVE GIVEN made a difference in my life." from early 2009 At the end of my first year as Chair of the Public Education to the end of June 2019 Foundation, I am delighted to be reporting on another successful year. "The Public Education This year we supported 313 new and continuing scholars through our Foundation has been a great life-changing scholarships. help towards all aspects 1148 Scholarships of my education and the There is significant need in our public education communities and it’s a privilege to be able to support high potential students across Australia as transition from a rural area they strive to succeed. to the urban setting. I cannot thank the organisation Our work would not be possible without the generosity and goodwill of enough. It has relieved my our partner organisations and individuals. It is only with their support that we are able to assist increasing numbers of students facing disadvantage, family and me from financial showcase the talents of our public school students and provide performance STUDENTS EDUCATORS stress." recognition for students and education leaders in public education. 1077 71 At our annual awards ceremony in May, these talents were on full display as we celebrated the achievements of hundreds of students and heard the words of our 1,000th scholarship recipient, Daniel Lahood, who credited his public education for motivating him to do his very best and laying the foundation for a more equal and tolerant society. This year we also released our first Monitoring and Evaluation Report. An SCHOLARSHIP FUNDING impressive 96% of respondents say that our scholarships have transformed SCHOOLS their lives, over 60% say their scholarship gave them the confidence to pursue $3,491,646 post-secondary education and over 80% acknowledge that their scholarships Total schools encouraged them to become role models or leaders in their communities. in 2015/2016 65 Our success is due to the hard-work and dedication of the Public Education Total schools Foundation team led by Executive Director David Hetherington. With a in 2016/17 90 broader scholarship offering and an increase in the number of applications, APPLICATION the highest quality management and administration has been maintained. A NUMBERS Total schools focus this year has been to transform processes to drive further growth and in 2017/18 99 strengthen our relationships with partner organisations and supporters. ACROSS AUSTRALIA Total schools I would like to thank our committed Board members, who have provided in 2018/19 101 tremendous support and guidance to the team. Special thanks goes to Chris 2016 414 Ryan, our former Chair. Chris has stayed on as a solidly-contributing board member and this has been appreciated by everyone. TOTAL SCHOOLS 2017 440 Finally, I thank everyone for their ongoing support and I look forward to ENGAGED SINCE 2011 working with you all in the years ahead. 2018 630 David Friedlander 298 Chair 2019 635 Scholarship recipients: 59% Female 41% Male 2 PUBLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION ANNUAL REPORT 2018–19 3 Executive Proudly Public Director Celebrating Public Report Education It is a great pleasure to present the 2018-19 Annual At the Public Education Foundation’s annual awards Report of the Public Education Foundation. night in May 2019 we recognised the remarkable work of students, teachers and principals who In many ways, it has been a hallmark year for the make our public education system great. Foundation as we celebrated our 10th birthday. In the grand Sydney Town Hall, more than 270 To mark this milestone, and reflect on our journey so far, scholarships , including Harding Miller Education we commissioned a comprehensive evaluation of our Foundation scholars, were awarded to students and scholarship program with support from Perpetual’s IMPACT educators and the talents of the Southern Stars music Philanthropy. and dance ensembles entertained the audience with their energetic performances. The results showed that over 98% of our eligible scholars to date have completed Year 12, compared with a national This year we were honoured to have the dynamic Jan average of 79%. And of these, 62% have progressed onto Fran as our MC and the inspiring Craig Foster as the university – the national average is 37%. Many of our keynote speaker. In his powerful speech he applauded scholars achieve this despite facing profound disadvantage. teachers for inspiring new generations of Australians and spoke about the importance of equality and In 2018-19, we offered 185 new scholarships to students, compassion. teachers and principals in public schools. We raised a record amount in donations of $924,801, which will allow us to fund our biggest ever scholarship round in 2019-20. “I believe in the right of all children to an outstanding free and well-funded public In another milestone, we were delighted to offer our 1,000th education as an enabler and a leveller that scholarship to Daniel Lahood of Ashfield Boys High School. reflects the fact that we are all equal … every It is always gratifying to be able to expand our range child has the right to aspire to whatever they of scholarships. Amongst others, we introduced new want to be.” Craig Foster scholarships this year for South Australian indigenous students in partnership with the GO Foundation, and seven NSW Education and Early Childhood Minister, The PROUDLY SUPPORTED BY: new scholarships to public school students in Sydney’s west, Hon. Sarah Mitchell, spoke proudly about her own supported by the Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue. experiences as a student and now a parent at her local We celebrated all our scholars at our annual awards night, public school in country NSW. Proudly Public, where the remarkable Craig Foster offered powerful arguments in support of human rights and public “I am a big believer in making sure that all education in his keynote speech. students no matter where they live or what In closing, I wish to note our deep gratitude to all those donors, school they attend can access a world class volunteers and organisational partners who make possible education.” The Hon. Sarah Mitchell MP our support for students and teachers in public education – your generosity is remarkable. The staff and board at the We would like to extend our thanks to the Lord Foundation work incredibly hard to direct this support to Mayor of Sydney, for generously providing a Lord change students’ lives, and my thanks go to all of them. Mayoral Reception for scholarship recipients and our supporters. The Public Education Foundation extends David Hetherington a very special thanks to all our event sponsors. Without Executive Director their ongoing support the annual celebration of public education would not be possible. 4 PUBLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION ANNUAL REPORT 2018–19 5 Scholarship Recipients 2019 ABORIGINAL CAPITAL CHEMIST DAVID S RATNER FRIENDS OF ZAINAB Mahmood Mahmood FRIENDS OF GO FOUNDATION – PEF Teresa Chen EDUCATION COUNCIL COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP SENIOR SECONDARY Bankstown Senior College ZAINAB TERTIARY SCHOLARSHIP Ryde Secondary College SCHOLARSHIP SCHOLARSHIP SCHOLARSHIP Nour Moslli Rory Clements (NEW IN 2019) Bankstown Senior College SCHOLARSHIP Supports and empowers East Loddon P-12 College - VIC Supports Indigenous students Provides support to ACT college Provides 5 years of support Supports Year 11 and 12 Patrick Ndabagaza Provides financial assistance for Indigenous students in public Kiara Coleman to successfully complete their students in their final year of and encouragement for public refugee students through the Murray High School the first two years of full time high schools to successfully Chifley College Dunheved Campus complete their secondary Bella Conway senior years of schooling. school. primary school students. critical years of their HSC. 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