Excellence in Teaching Award

Excellence in Teaching Award • Latest News • News • Manurewa High School: Piki Atu Ki Te Rangi - Aim High

The New Zealand Association of Mathematics Teachers (NZAMT) has awarded a Jim Campbell Mathematics Teacher Award to Tony Carey, Head of Manurewa High School's Mathematics Department.

This award recognises personal excellence in Primary or Secondary classroom teaching and support given to others in enhancing their classroom teaching.

Nominees for the award must fulfil the following criteria:

a) excellence in the teaching of mathematics in the classroom at a particular school;

b) contribution and support to mathematics teaching at other schools in the district and/or contribution to mathematics teaching throughout New Zealand; and

c) support of a local mathematics association or mathematics group.
 
The NZAMT awarded Mr Carey with a plaque, accompanied by the following citation:

Tony’s contribution to the teaching of Mathematics in Auckland and the other areas of New Zealand, where he has taught, is outstanding.  He is not a person who pushes himself into the limelight but works hard for mathematics education in a quiet, sincere, incredibly faithful and reliable manner. 
He has served on the Auckland Mathematics Association Executive for 11 years in roles of Executive Member, Treasurer and currently President.   During this time, he has been very involved in organising Mathex, the Saturday morning professional development workshops, organising HOD days and the end of year Calculus days.  He is meticulous in what he does ensuring that every detail is thoroughly attended to ensure the events run smoothly, efficiently and effectively.  
 
Since taking up the Mathematics HOD position in Manurewa High School, Tony has significantly improved the functioning of the whole department through his tireless effort to put in place a clearer structure for the department and reducing unnecessary workload to enable teachers to have more time for lesson planning.
Tony has worked very hard to establish a department that is one of the most successful in his school. His work on course construction, training of staff, role modelling, supporting of staff, and advocating for the department has been outstanding in all respects.
 
He is careful to select innovations which will add value and which he and his staff can successfully implement. In 2013 ERO noted this in the high performance of the Mathematics Department in their review; a review in which Manurewa High School gained a 4/5 year review, the only decile 1 secondary school to have gained such a review.

 

In the classroom, Tony has established trusting and mutually respecting relationships with his students. The use of humour and real life examples make the lessons engaging and interesting for them. He uses an excellent blend of humour and clear communication, interesting lessons and good activities to engage his students. His results are in all cases, extremely good with pass rates significantly higher than the school average.
 
For his classroom work and his contribution to Mathematics education at a regional level, NZAMT has pleasure in granting Tony Carey a Jim Campbell Award for Teaching Excellence.


We are sure all our students agree with NZAMT's choice of recipient!  Our school is extremely fortunate to have Mr Carey as a member of staff.