Terms and conditions

You agree to these terms and conditions when you submit a nomination.

Definitions

In these terms and conditions:

• ‘Department’ means the Department of Education Western Australia
• ‘school’ and ‘public school’ mean a government school established under s.55 of the School Education Act 1999 (WA)
• ‘staff’ means an employee of the Department of Education Western Australia
• ‘website’ means the Department of Education public website available at education.wa.edu.au, and the pages and information within.

Nominations

1. By submitting a nomination, the nominator and the endorsing principal of the nominated school agree to abide by these terms and conditions, and that a breach of may result in exclusion or disqualification at the determination of the Department.

2. Nominations by the following people may only be submitted for their own school:

   • public school staff

   • school council and board chairs

   • parent and citizens’ association presidents.

3. All other persons are not eligible to submit a nomination, including but not limited to students, parents, third-party providers and community members.

4. Nominations by directors of education may be submitted for a school in their region.

5. Nominations by staff in the following positions, and not mentioned above, may be submitted for any school:

   • central services director and above

   • collegiate principal.

6. All persons otherwise are not eligible to submit a nomination, including but not limited to students, parents, third-party providers and community members.

7. Nominations must be submitted using the online submission form on the website before 5:00 pm Friday 16 August 2024.

8. The written statement must use the template provided on the website.

9. The written statement must be no more than 3 single-sided A4 pages and use size 11 pt Arial font.

10. All sections of the nomination must be completed, and all requested attachments provided.

11. By entering the awards, the nominator confirms that the school:

    • is responsible for maintaining parent/carer permission to publish student images

    • has recorded such permission for students featured in photos they submit

    •  will inform the Department of changes to provided permission.

12. By entering the awards, the nominator and principal agree for their school photographs, profiles and other information to be used for promotional purposes by the Department of Education and Government of Western Australia.

Nomination endorsement

12. Nominations must be endorsed by the principal.

Eligibility

13. All Western Australian public schools are eligible to be nominated, including early childhood, education support and special educational needs.
14. Schools can be nominated in more than one category.
15. Individuals are not eligible to be nominated.
16. Previous whole-school winners, finalists and nominees of the WA Education Awards are eligible for nomination.
17. Nominations must be for a single school. Dual, joint or co-nominations will not be accepted.

Judging

18. Nominated and finalist schools may be subject to further endorsement by Corporate Executive and Standards and Integrity. The Department reserves the right to not proceed with, deem ineligible, exclude or disqualify a nomination where Standards and Integrity or other unresolved matters with the Department or other agencies are identified.
19. Shortlisting and judging panel members will not assess nominations over the specified page limits.
20. All nominated schools agree to abide by the decisions of the shortlisting and judging panels. No appeals will be considered, nor correspondence or feedback provided.

Finalists and winners

21. Principals of finalist schools are encouraged to attend either a 40-minute video conference or site visit with the judging panel, accompanied by one other school representative of their choice, at a date and time determined by the Department.
    • During the video conference, finalists may give a 20-minute presentation to the judging panel then participate in a 20-minute interview. Presentations should include visual aids such as a PowerPoint presentation.
    • While efforts will be made to provide support, the principal is responsible for ensuring their technological capacity to participate in the video conference and share their presentation, including compatible devices and bandwidth. Finalists will be provided the opportunity to test their equipment prior to the conference.
22. Winners will be announced at a presentation event in Term 4. Finalists must attend this event to remain eligible, unless in extraordinary circumstances at the discretion of the Department.
23. Where a finalist school is located outside the Perth metropolitan area, travel and accommodation for one night will be provided for 2 staff members to travel to Perth for the presentation event in accordance with travelling allowance provisions of the relevant industrial award. Travel and accommodation expenses will not be provided for additional staff or guests.
24. Finalist and winner schools are required to participate in promotional and media activities for the awards program. Principals must make all reasonable efforts to engage their staff, school and community in promotional activities as required.

25. Winning schools may be requested to present to Corporate Executive or other groups to share their story about the awards and how their win provided benefits to the school.

Prize money expenditure

26. Winning schools must allocate their prize money to a school project or program, professional development for staff, student resources or other suitable activities.
27. All prize money must be spent within the following calendar year.
28. Winning schools will be required to obtain expenditure approval from the Department using a provided form to detail the proposed expenditure of the prize money and outline the aims and expected outcomes of the expenditure.

29. Winning schools are required to submit a report detailing the outcomes of their expenditure.