The annual Australian Education Awards showcase our country’s top-performing schools, for their outstanding
achievements and transformative work. This year, Lindisfarne Anglican Grammar School has been
announced as a finalist in three categories.
The strength of Lindisfarne’s leadership and our visionary steps forward in technology have been recognised at the national level with our school in the running to win three major education awards.
The Lindisfarne community is proud to announce we are finalists in the categories of ‘School Principal of the Year – Nongovernment (Mr Stuart Marquardt)’, ‘Teachers Mutual Bank Primary School Teacher of the Year – Non-government (Junior School PDHPE educator Nathan Croft)’, and ‘Best Use of Technology’.
Deputy Principal, Mrs Charlotte Lush says getting to this point was a culmination of the hard work of everyone within the school community supporting Mr Marquardt’s overarching vision and strategy to create a world class educational institution.
Principal Stuart Marquardt has been announced as a finalist as Principal of the Year in the 2021 Australian Education Awards.
Stuart Marquardt named as a finalist for School Principal of the Year
“Since taking up the mantle of Principal in 2016, Stuart has set forth a clear and consistent pathway forward to grow our community of families by promoting a culture of high academic standards and behavioural expectations, led by an expert teaching team. He has led us all with a desire for ongoing improvement through evidence-based pedagogical practices and professional development of our staff. He has built stronger partnerships with other schools in our region and across the world, and grown our co-curricular, care and faith-based offerings at the School,” she says.
“All of this is really starting to show with more families actively choosing to join our community, and the flow-on effect of us needing to expand both of our campuses to accommodate the growth.
“It’s through all of us – students, parents, staff and friends – supporting this vision that Stuart is now receiving credit for this work from Australia’s broader educational sector. We should all be proud of this moment.”
Lindisfarne’s Information Technology team has been announced as a finalist in the 2021 Australian Educator Awards
Setting the standard for technology in Australian schools
Lindisfarne’s implementation of technology also made us a finalist at the Education Awards. The judging panel noted our various programs including the School’s ConnectEd program — where, every two years, each student in Years 1 to 6 receives their own iPad and each student in Years 7 to 12 receives their own laptop — as well as our solar power program, smart speakers, virtual reality headsets, robotics and coding programmes, robotic farm, touch screens in
all classrooms, and our Kingscliff based off-grid Boathouse.
Our Director of Information Services, Infrastructure and Facilities, Mr Gavin Kennedy, says we’ve reimagined what’s
possible with technology in an educational environment.
“Our device program, complemented by high-speed internet connection across both campuses is at the centre or our
platform — it’s a means for our students to learn anywhere, anytime and under any conditions. It was key to our success during the challenges of 2020,” he says.
“A world-class leader in our school”
The third finalist for Lindisfarne at this year’s Awards is Mr Nathan Croft — Personal Development, Health and Physical Education teacher at our Junior School.
Mrs Charlotte Lush says Nathan Croft, who this year achieved his Experienced Teacher status, displays the qualities of a world-class leader in our school.
“Nathan is known for his effort in building relationships with all the Junior School kids — he knows the names of all 498 of them – and their parents and carers,” she says.
“He is innovative in utilising technology in physical education to help the students set targets and goals, he runs Skipping and Running Clubs throughout the year and encourages parents to get involved, and he is growing the quality of our PDHPE program by also bringing in other sports professionals to drive our students to improve their
sporting abilities.”
Nathan Croft is a finalist in the Primary School Teacher of the Year category .
