The winners of the 19th Victorian Early Years Awards were announced on Thursday 7 November 2024 by the Minister for Children, the Hon Lizzie Blandthorn MP.
Radio broadcaster and author Jacinta Parsons hosted the awards that celebrate the work and achievements of our early years professionals and early childhood services.
Winners across the 9 award categories exemplified the vital work driving the early years sector.
The winners of each category received a grant of $15,000 for professional development or to support their nominated initiatives.
Individual honours
For their demonstrated exemplary practice in early childhood education and exceptional dedication to improving outcomes for children and their families, the individual category award winners were:
- Early Childhood Teacher of the Year: Pauline Dent, from Rosedale Uniting Early Learning
- Educator of the Year Award: Margot Serena, from Craig Family Centre
- The Emeritus Professor Collette Tayler Excellence in Educational Leadership award: Chloe Edgar, from Discovery Tree Early Learning Centre.
Service and organisations award- recipients
Representing services and organisations achieving high-quality outcomes, this year’s award recipients in the various categories were:
- Improving Access and Participation in Early Learning: ‘Enrol to Kinder Day’ – Mildura Rural City Council, in partnership with Connected Beginnings Mildura
- Supporting Parents to Build their Capacity and Confidence: ‘The Nest’ – Go Goldfields, in partnership with Regional Development Victoria, Central Goldfields Shire Council, Maryborough District Health Services and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
- Creating Collaborative Community Partnerships: Ballarat’s Children: Collaborating for Systems Improvement’ – City of Ballarat Council, in partnership with Grampians Public Health Unit and Uniting Ballarat
- Promoting Children’s Health and Wellbeing: ‘Tiny Dots Early Intervention’– Tiny Dots, in partnership with Dot to Dot Intervention
- Continuity of Early Learning: ‘A Great Start to School’ – Go Goldfields, in partnership with Central Goldfields Shire Council, Maryborough District Health Services, Best Start, Loddon Early Childhood Improvement Branch, all Central Goldfields Kindergartens and Schools
- The Aunty Rose Bamblett Koorie Early Years Legacy Award: Rosedale Uniting Early Learning.
The Minister’s Award
Finalists in each category were also eligible to win the prestigious Minister’s Award, selected by the Minister for Children.
This year’s winner was Early Childhood Teacher of the Year finalist Jacinta Anderson, from Moe Heights Preschool. Jacinta was recognised for her exemplary practice and exceptional achievement in improving outcomes for young children.
For more highlights from the evening, check out our video.
Find out more
For more information about this year’s winners and finalists, refer to Winners of the 2024 Victorian Early Years Awards(opens in a new window).
For further queries, please contact the department by email: early.years.awards@education.vic.gov.au(opens in a new window)
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