Thursday, 13 November 2025

 Michaela SETTLE (Eureka) (09:52): It gives me great pleasure to rise and acknowledge the outstanding achievement of Alice Jury, who has been honoured with the Outstanding Primary Teacher award at the 2025 Victorian Education Excellence Awards. Alice’s work at Canadian Lead Primary School has been nothing short of transformative. She co-developed a new phonics program for prep to grade 2 students, significantly improving reading and spelling outcomes. She also introduced the Berry Street education model, bringing in predictable routines, brain breaks and positive primers. The result has been fewer behavioural incidents, higher attendance and remarkable gains in student learning.

I was delighted to see Alice recently when I visited Canadian Lead Primary School with the Deputy Premier. It was immediately clear how deeply she cares for her students and just as clear how much they adore and respect her in return. The school was filled with warmth, laughter and a genuine love of learning. After I shared a post about her win on Facebook, one mother wrote to me to tell me how Alice had helped her child – how her patience, skill and encouragement had changed that student’s experience of school. Alice Jury truly embodies the best of our Education State – dedicated, compassionate and committed to helping every child.