Angela Phillips, Westminster School’s Director of Teaching: Pedagogy and Digital Delivery, was awarded the prestigious international NEiTA 2024 Leadership Award at an awards ceremony in Melbourne on Friday,
15 November.
The recognition highlights Phillips’ exceptional dedication to education, and to her role in leading and
advancing education excellence at the independent school in Adelaide. She is one of just 11 educators across Australia and New Zealand, and one of only two in South Australia, who received an award at the event, which saw awards given across eight separate categories.
NEiTA is the longest-running, community-based awards program that recognises teaching excellence in
Australia and New Zealand, with the award ceremony also celebrating the organisation’s 30th anniversary.
Phillips has been an educator for 23 years, holding several roles in leadership positions, and has a passion for providing educators with professional development and pedagogy opportunities. This is evident through her work with Westminster School’s HALT and Early Career Teacher program. Phillips is also the co-
lead of the South Australian HALT Network, a cross-sector professional network supporting teacher growth.
HALT certification stands for Highly Accomplished and Lead Teacher certification. It is a recognition program
for teachers in Australia who demonstrate high levels of expertise and leadership in their teaching practice.
Certification is managed nationally by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL)
and is available to teachers across all education sectors.
Westminster School’s HALT program provides a framework for teachers to gain certification as Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers, bolstering leadership skills and encouraging career growth. The program
encourages continuous professional growth, with educators looking to seek and act on student and
colleague feedback, as well as high-quality educational research.
Embracing professional development
Phillips introduced the HALT program at Westminster School after undertaking certification herself in 2019
and is passionate about offering this exceptional development opportunity to other educators.
“I was the first teacher to become certified as HALT at Westminster School, and I can honestly say it was the most impactful professional learning I’ve ever undertaken,” Phillips says.
“Becoming a certified Lead Teacher has certainly changed me for the better as an educator. I am always
eager to see the impact of what we do within the school, seeking feedback at every turn and striving to
improve. I am not satisfied with just thinking something works; I need evidence to back up my thoughts. This
journey has led me to examine my own unconscious biases and become much more reflective and
vulnerable.”
She says the HALT program has “given us an extensive professional learning program that enables teachers to learn from each other and demonstrate the impact of their classroom practice”.
“By observing classroom practice and talking to our expert educators about the certification journey, we managed to build a team of teachers working towards certification, and, as our teachers saw the positive impacts of the program, we’ve had more and more opt in.”
Westminster School currently has 14 staff members with who are certified with HALT accreditations, with a
further six awaiting assessment and more than 15 educators who are at different phases of the certification
journey.
Phillips says the recognition she has received from the award affirms the strength of the program at Westminster and the school as a leader in this space
“I am so honoured and grateful for the recognition of the NEiTA Leadership Award and look forward to
continuing to work with the wonderful educators at Westminster School, driving their development and
allowing them to excel as both educators and leaders.”
