Twenty students from Catholic schools in South Australia have been named among the winners in two major state-wide Humanities competitions.
Earlier this year, senior school students from across South Australia were invited to enter the 2024 Premier’s Anzac Spirit School Prize and the Muriel Matters Awards.
The Premier’s Anzac Spirit School Prize is awarded each year to approximately 20 students in Year 9 and 10 who have engaged in an in-depth research project on South Australian service men and women who served in World War 1 or 2. The rigourous selection process involves a submission entry and then an interview for students who are shortlisted.
Three students from Catholic schools are among those invited to participate in a state government fulling funded 12-day study tour to Vietnam in April 2025, that will coincide with ANZAC Day.
Congratulations to the following students on their Anzac Spirit prize-winning entries:
This prestigious prize is run by the South Australian state government to encourage young South Australians to understand, connect with and maintain the Anzac Spirit.
It gives students across all sectors of education the opportunity to examine and empathise with the remarkable sacrifices of South Australian service men or women during the 20th century. Winning entries are published on the Virtual War Memorial, Australia.
The award winners were presented with a medallion on 19 November by the Minister for Education, Training and Skills, the Hon Blair Boyer MP, at a formal award ceremony at the Torrens Parade Ground in Adelaide.
At a separate awards ceremony on 14 November, the 2024 Muriel Matters Awards were acknowledged by the Hon Leon Bignell MP, Speaker of the House of Assembly and the Hon Blair Boyer MP, Minister for Education, Training and Skills.
17 Catholic school students were recognised as recipients of the Muriel Matters Award, with three students, Arjun Malhotra, Clodeta Twagirimana and Holly Paech, attending the official ceremony at Parliament House. These awards are given each year in memory of Muriel Matters, a South-Australian born suffragist, educator and social reformer who was well-known for her work and activism in the early 20th century.
Students in Year 7-12 can be nominated by their school if they demonstrate qualities such as initiative beyond school arranged activities, involvement in democratic processes to promote change and make a difference, take action of some type and exhibit in their action a degree of selflessness and personal challenge.
Congratulations to the following students who all receive a medallion and a copy of Collette Snowden’s monograph, ‘Muriel Matters – That Daring Australian Girl’:
Many more students entered these awards, and we also congratulate them on their hard work and achievements. All students receive a participation award for their efforts.
Information on the 2025 awards run by the Department for Education will be available early next year here: www.education.sa.gov.au/students.
Catholic Education SA encourages all eligible students to enter the various awards, prizes and challenges open to all South Australian students.
Announced today all three South Australian education sectors – Public, Independent and Catholic – will take significant steps towards a more inclusive education system in South Australia.
The reforms are set to deliver on the recommendations made by the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability.
