Warwick Senior High School awards finalists (from left) Lena Durbridge, Graham Johnson, Ben Garnaut and Jade Muli.
Camera IconWarwick Senior High School awards finalists (from left) Lena Durbridge, Graham Johnson, Ben Garnaut and Jade Muli. Credit: Supplied/Supplied

Four Warwick Senior High School in line for WA Education Award

Justin BianchiniJoondalup Times

FOUR staff members at Warwick Senior High School have been nominated for the prestigious WA Education Awards.

A focus on the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) program has put Warwick students on track for improved success and seen their teachers recognised.

Head of Science Graham Johnson (WA Secondary Teacher of the Year finalist), Ben Garnaut (WA Beginning Teacher of the Year finalist) and Lena Durbridge (WA School Services Staff Member of the Year finalist) are members of Warwick’s STEM team.

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The fourth finalist, Jade Muli, or Aunty Jade, has been recognised for her work with Indigenous students and is one of just three in the AIEO (Aboriginal Islander Education Officer) of the Year category.

Graham said being a finalist was recognition that Warwick was offering its students the best opportunities.

“I am just a small part of a very big team and the recognition is as much for everyone else as it is for me,” he said

Graham, a teacher for 28 years, is also a finalist in the Prime Minister’s Prize for Secondary Science Teaching, to be awarded in October.

Lena’s role as a laboratory technician is to support the Science teaching staff.

She says STEM has changed everything for staff and students.

“It’s very much a team approach…we bounce ideas off each other and I help find what they need to make it happen in the classroom,” she said.

“I really love it when I hear the teachers and students are stoked with the way an exercise or experiment has gone. It just makes we want to do more.”

Ben worked as a geologist in the mining industry before following in his parents’ footsteps and retraining as a teacher.

“I am very humbled by the nomination for Beginning Teacher of the Year (a teacher in their first three years) because there are so many people who are worthy of awards,” he said.

Jade says she’s “in the right job at the right school”.

A former Warwick student herself, she mentors each Aboriginal Year 12 student to ensure they are on track to achieve the best possible results.