New Zealand Science Teacher

Jenny Pollock wins Peter Spratt Medal

24/07/2014

The Peter Spratt medal was awarded at SciCon2014 in Dunedin.

Jenny Pollock and medal (right) with fellow science teacher Hazel McIntosh (left).

The Peter Spratt medal recognises a long-serving and hard-working member of New Zealand Association of Science Educators, and a sustained contribution to science education in New Zealand.

Peter Spratt was the dedicated executive officer of NZASE for many years. He died suddenly in August 2007.

Read more about Peter’s life work here, at the Royal Society of New Zealand.

At SciCon2014, the Peter Spratt medal was presented to Jenny Pollock.

Below is the speech given by NZASE President, Steven Sexton, at the medal’s presentation ceremony:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

“This year’s recipient of the Peter Spratt Medal is a person many people from many different organisations and regions from around New Zealand felt was most deserving of this recognition.

This person has been a long serving officer of the NZASE both at regional and national level.

Specifically, this person was holding office at the highest level within the NZASE and at most probably one of its most traumatic times.

The time I refer to was the period after Peter Spratt’s untimely death.

The NZASE lost its lynch-pin and much of the role that he’d carried out under the auspices of the Royal Society was no longer available.  

The reorganisation and continuation of the profile fell on the then NZASE committee and the leadership that was needed to continue through this transition as a professional body.

Fortunately, this person’s leadership and the NZASE executive carried out that transition and laid a set of new foundations for the continuation of the NZASE, outside of the administrational assistance on the Royal Society.

This person has been involved in the development and review of standards and resources to support the assessment of science at all three levels of NCEA, since NCEA began, through work with NZQA and the Ministry of Education.

In recent years, she has also been one of the key people in the development of standards and resources for the new subject of Earth and Space Science at Level 2 and Level 3 NCEA. In addition, this person was also part of the group developing the Science Learning Area achievement objectives and Essence Statement for The New Zealand Curriculum (2007).

And as if that was not enough, this person has supported teachers through the development of numerous resources and her willingness to travel throughout the country to run workshops on the implementation of new science standards and earth space science standards.

This person has shared electronically many teaching resources she has developed for her own teaching with teachers throughout New Zealand. 

This support has led to the expansion of science and earth and space science in many secondary schools.

Please help me welcome to the stage this year’s recipient of the Sir Peter Spratt Medal: Jenny Pollock.”