9 June 2016:
What a great night! Thank you to all who attended the Public Education Foundation’s ‘Celebration of Public Education’
The night may have been cold but the Public Education Foundation sure warmed up the evening with a great celebration of public education, at the Sydney Town Hall on Tuesday 19 May!
The event was an enormous success, with supporters from every corner of the state and beyond joining us for an evening of celebration to honour the outstanding work taking place in our public schools and well as congratulating the Foundation’s 2015 scholarship recipients.
We were extremely delighted to have distinguished guests attend the night including Senator Bridget McKenzie officially representing the Hon. Tony Abbott MP, Prime Minister of Australia, the Hon Adrian Piccoli MP, NSW Minister for Education, the Hon Linda Burney MP, Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Dr Michele Bruniges AM, Secretary of NSW Department of Education and Communities, among many others.
There were some inspiring speeches throughout the night – the Hon Adrian Piccoli MP, recounted the best parts of his day, playing UNO with the breakfast club at Griffith Public School and then speaking at PEF’s event. Professor James Arvanitakis, delivered an engaging and transformative keynote address for our students. Will Freestone told us firsthand how the support of a scholarship can turn a student from being restricted into a high achiever with ambitions to match. He hopes to one day be in a position to provide scholarships and give back to the community. And finally, our Chief Executive, the Hon Nathan Rees, reminded the students to follow your passions and back yourselves as there are a lot of people in your corner.
The night could not have happened without our savvy MC, Jane Caro, and announcer, Jonathan Mill. And we can’t forget the amazing talented performers, NSW Public School Stage Band, NSW Public Schools Aboriginal Dance Company and NSW Public Schools Junior Singers. We are very grateful to the Arts Unit for providing such wonderful performers.
Finally, big congratulations to all the scholarship recipients!
A big thank you to the sponsors and supporters; NSW Teacher’s Federation, The NSW Department of Education and Communities, Teachers Mutual Bank, Teachers Health Fund, NSW Primary Principals’ Association, NSW Principals’ Secondary Council, Australian Council of State Schools Organisation, the Arts Unit and the City of Sydney.
If you missed the evening, watch the video on our YouTube page, and see a gallery of images on our Facebook page.
