Categories and Goals

Choose which category best describes the impact of your school’s PALS project. Your entry should include some information that describes how it has contributed to the goals of that category. 

• Community Participation: developing sustainable community partnerships focused on building better relationships and futures between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people; leading to increased participation, involvement and engagement of Indigenous parents and communities in school life;
• Student Engagement: increasing student attendance, engagement and participation rates in school and community activities;
• The Arts: embracing Indigenous culture through performing, musical and visual arts;
• Health: developing more health conscious and knowledgable students (and community) through sustainable education initiatives and activities;
• Environment: creating, improving and developing a welcoming school and community environment that encourages participation from Indigenous people and encourages the sustainable use of natural resources.

1. The PALS project considers existing social and environmental factors such as involvement of Indigenous parents and other community members in school life, student knowledge and exposure to Indigenous culture and issues, number of Indigenous students compared to other cultures, etc.
2. The PALS project addresses and identifies concerns and/or issue and demonstrates through participant feedback that there has been a behavioural or perception shift as a result of their involvement in the project. E.g., the PALS project might have initiated with the need for engagement of Indigenous parents and resulted in a shared pride and respect for Indigenous people and culture.
3. Explores issues of reconciliation and the impact of European settlement on Indigenous cultural identity, resulting in an improved understanding and appreciation of Indigenous culture and heritage.
4. Sustainability – there is potential for the positive benefits created by the PALS project to have a long-term impact on the individual, school, and/or broader community.

The PALS Award submission should address the judging criteria and provide qualitative and/or quantitative data to support its claims against one or more of the PALS objectives.

However, unlike a typical award submission, it is not necessary to address the criteria individually. It is only important that the overall award submission provides an insight to the judges of the journey taken by participants and how it relates to the criteria.

The judging panel will use the criteria as a guide when assessing submissions and their impact on the community.

It is important to note that the judging criteria measure the impact of the project rather than the project itself.

DEADLINES FOR SUBMISSIONS         

Award submissions are due Friday 20 September 2013, in Term 3. To be successful, the submission will include a completed submission form detailing the category in which the application is to be assessed, an overview of the project undertaken and a brief summary of how the project has impacted the school community, in relation to the program objectives.

The final project should be accompanied by a visual record of the community’s journey toward reconciliation, using images or direct quotes and comments from participants that show a positive change in attitudes and beliefs.

THE JUDGING PANEL

The judging panel can vary in number from six to 12 but must include representation from a variety of areas of expertise, including: 

• The Department of Aboriginal Affairs;
• Education – government and private;
• PALS partners and supporters; and
• Indigenous community.