An Australian-first tool created to identify potential literacy and numeracy gaps in students by the Department’s Student Assessment Online Reporting Team has won the Highest Quality Education category at the Premier’s Awards.

The hybrid ceremony held on Tuesday night celebrated world-class service delivered by the NSW public sector to the people of NSW.

It came as little surprise that the Department dominated the Highest Quality Education category.

Rural Access Gap Program (Information and Technology Directorate); Aboriginal Language and Culture Nests (Aboriginal Outcomes and Partnerships Directorate); Improving HSC Outcomes with a Step Change in Evaluation (Quality Teaching Practice – Learning Improvement) and the Educational Pathways Pilot Program expansion (Education and Skills Reform) joined the Student Assessment Online Reporting Team as nominees.

The Rural Access Gap Program was given an honourable mention for its outstanding work in narrowing the digital divide between metropolitan and regional schools, setting up a program that improved device-to-student rations and provided nearly 13,000 teachers with access to a personal device.

But ultimately it was the Student Assessment Online Reporting Team that won the day.

First created in response to the rapidly developing COVID-19 situation in April 2020, the tool was completed by almost 63,000 students within four months. The team, in partnership with the department's Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation (CESE), returned the first results to schools within 48 hours, providing rapid insights backed with specific resources.

Given its outstanding value, Check-in Assessments now occur twice-yearly for 400,000 students in Years 3 to 9.

The Department’s Learning from Home Team was also a finalist and received an honourable mention for the Recovery and Resilience Award.

The team had designed and implemented a central, high-quality and accessible digital curriculum for thousands of schools after the pandemic had started to escalate in 2020.

That award was won by COVID-19 and Discharge Shuttle Service Patient Transport Service, HealthShare NSW.

Elsewhere, Andrew Clifton from Millfield Public School, received a nomination for the Anthea Kerr Award, which recognises future public sector leaders that have already exhibited a deep commitment to public sector values.

Mr Clifton was nominated for being an amazing educational leader in his role as the school’s Assistant Principal, Curriculum and Instruction but ultimately lost out to Courtney James, a Registered Midwife, Aboriginal Midwifery Caseload Model at the Western Sydney Local Health District.

The NSW Public Servant of the Year award went to Amanda Causley, Welfare Services Functional Area Coordinator for Northern NSW and Community Services Caseworker, Department of Communities and Justice.