Geraldton teacher Jade Foster awarded teaching fellowship worth $40,000 for her outstanding work

Mount Tarcoola Primary School teacher Jade Foster’s work as an educator has come full circle, reaching a special pinnacle recently with a prestigious award. Ms Foster attended MTPS herself from kindergarten to Year 7 and returned as a teacher. She was named a winner in the 2023 Commonwealth Bank Teaching Awards for her outstanding contribution to the community as an educator, and as well as this recognition she has also won a $40,000 fellowship. After graduating from the Geraldton Universities Centre in 2008, Ms Foster has now been teaching for 15 years, working at Allendale Primary, Bluff Point Primary and as a foundational member of the Wandina Primary School when it opened in 2015. Now working as a Year 2 and 3 teacher at MTPS, Ms Foster’s principal nominated her for the award. The awards recognise the outstanding contribution teachers and education leaders make, and is the biggest national program acknowledging excellence in the education space. There were 500 entrants across the country, and Ms Foster was one of 22 winners who went through a rigorous selection process. She said she never expected to win. “I had to write a 1600-word essay that met the award’s selection criteria. (Awards organiser) Schools Plus read and scored all applications to decide the 25 finalists (and) the finalists completed a 30-minute interview with a panel of education experts,” she said. Ms Foster said being acknowledged for her work was heartwarming. “It fills me with an overwhelming sense of appreciation. I am so proud to be putting Geraldton and MTPS on the national educational map,” she said. Throughout her career, Ms Foster has worked with GUC, supervising pre-service teachers in her classroom each year. She said she was a passionate lifelong learner, thriving on the opportunity to mentor. The fellowship will see Ms Foster coached by Dr Stephen Brown over the next 12 months, while he mentors her on a “strategic school project” which will have $25,000 of the $40,000 fellowship allocated to the project. “At this stage, my project will likely be related to my current work in implementing consistency in teaching across the school to improve student outcomes,” she said.