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School and teacher recognised for innovation

15 September 2011

School and teacher recognised for innovation

Wild idea ... Stephen Baskerville.

A North Queensland teacher and a Far North Queensland state school have both been recognised for their innovation in the classroom.

Proserpine State High School and Kirwan State High School teacher Stephen Baskerville have been named winners as part of the Microsoft Australia's Worldwide Partners in Learning Program 2012.

A science teacher at Kirwan State High School, Mr Baskerville was named as the Queensland winner of this year's Microsoft Innovative Teachers Award.

He was recognised for his 'Wild Schools Project' which was inspired by the damage caused to his local area from Cyclone Yasi in January. Stephen got his pupils involved in repairing the damage caused to the school rainforest and local area, while also getting them excited about their local environment.

Proserpine State High School was rewarded for its hard work by being named as one of three new Microsoft Pathfinder schools after demonstrating a strong vision for transforming its learning environment.

Acting Assistant Director-General, Information and Technologies, Mike Heard said Queensland's recognition in the program clearly demonstrates the state schools' and teachers' commitment to ICT in education.

'We are incredibly proud of both Mr Baskerville and Proserpine State High Schools' achievements and recognise their dedication to eLearning,' Mr Heard said.

'They are highly innovative and have embraced technology as an integral part of teaching and learning.'

The Partners in Learning Schools Program brings together a global community of like-minded schools to discover share and scale innovative education practices and models for transformational learning.

Proserpine State High School joins six other Queensland state schools across three levels of the Worldwide Partners in Learning Program. They are: Mentor schools - Hermit Park State School and Varsity College; Pathfinder schools - Parkhurst State School; Participating schools - Coomera Springs State School, Kirwan State High School and Stanthorpe State School.

As part of his prize package Mr Baskerville will attend the Microsoft Regional Innovative Education Forum in March 2012 where the national winner of the Microsoft Innovative Teachers Award will be named.

Representatives from Proserpine State High School will also have the chance to network with other innovative schools from all corners of the world at the Microsoft Worldwide Partners in Learning forum in Washington DC in November.