Winmalee High School

A positive education and positive behaviour for learning school

Telephone02 4754 2822

Emailwinmalee-h.school@det.nsw.edu.au

Scholarships and awards

Our students can take advantage of several scholarship and award opportunities.

NSW School Nanga Mai Awards

The Nanga Mai Awards are an annual event organised by Aboriginal Education and Communities Directorate. The awards recognise and celebrate innovation, excellence and educational achievement in Aboriginal education in NSW public schools, school communities and department directorates.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

This Premier’s Reading Challenge encourages students from Kindergarten to Year 9 to develop a love of reading and plays an important role in developing literacy.

Premier’s Debating Challenge

The Premier’s Debating Challenge is open to students from Year 5 to 12. Teams compete in a round robin series of debates against other schools. The winners go on to compete at regional and state level to determine the eventual state champion.

Public speaking competitions

The Arts Unit offers public speaking competitions for NSW school students. Each competition is a great opportunity for students to develop their speech-writing and presentation skills while representing their schools in a state-wide competition.

Premier’s Anzac Memorial Scholarships

The Premier’s Anzac Memorial Scholarships are an opportunity to visit significant overseas sites associated with Australia’s participation in war for Years 10 and 11 students in selected schools.

The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award - Australia

The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award - Australia provides an internationally recognised, self-development program for people aged 14 to 25. The program equips young people with the opportunity to undertake a variety of voluntary and challenging activities.

The Winmalee Medal

The school aims to give high recognition to students who display commitment. We value extensive participation in curricular and extra-curricular activities. The Winmalee Medal recognises students’ holistic achievements in a balanced and progressive framework.

To receive an award the student needs to earn eight credits in at least four of the following categories with a maximum of three credits per category. Some activities have a value of two credits. This encourages students to become involved in a variety of areas of school life in any academic year.

The categories include:

1.      Academic Excellence/ Merit Program

2.      Leadership

3.      Community Service

4.      Creative and Performing Arts

5.      Sports Representation

6.      Other

There are five steps in the award:

Step One: Certificate of Achievement 1

Step Two: Certificate of Achievement 2

Step Three: Certificate of Achievement 3

Step Four: The Winmalee Medal

Step Five: The Principal’s Medal

Students can complete two Steps per year. They can semesterise their achievements, completing two levels in 12 months, but students cannot double up on the activities within the same year. For example, students cannot count the SRC points twice, unless they decide to split their two points across the year, allocating one per semester, if eligible. Another example may be being a Regional/Zone Sport Representative – students would need to represent in two different fields each semester to count it twice. For example, Zone Athletics, and Zone Swimming could be counted as two separate activities.

The exception to counting an activity each semester, is the Highly Commended (RoSE Breakfast) and the Consistent Effort awards for Semester 1 and Semester 2 academic reports. For Semester 2, students who expect to receive the award can enquire before the release of invites to include this in their final application for the Winmalee Medal that year.

Once students have reached Step 4, they have achieved the Winmalee Medal and are eligible to apply for the Principal’s Medal via a Future Leaders Project. Another way students can achieve the Principal’s Medal is by achieving the Winmalee Medal twice. Students who achieved the Winmalee Medal twice (two full cycles), will automatically achieve the Principal’s Medal.

Please download the Winmalee Medal Booklet (PDF 536 KB) for more information. Copies are also available from the Winmalee Medal Coordinator or the Front Office.