Three staff members of the NSW Department of Education staff were recognised in the weekend’s Australia Day honours list.
The Public Service Medal was awarded to Janelle (Nell) Lynes and Michelle Tregoning to acknowledge their outstanding contributions to the education sector. Director of Educational Leadership Lauretta Claus was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).
“Each of these staff members are outstanding advocates for public education,” says NSW Department of Education Secretary Murat Dizdar.
“Nell has demonstrated unwavering commitment to, and advocacy for, equity for children and families who come from language backgrounds other than English, including newly arrived students and refugees.
“Lauretta is not only an accomplished educator but a leading statistician for national and international basketball. Michelle has been pivotal in improving learning outcomes in mathematics and driving innovations in maths teaching.
“These awards are a testament to their efforts in enriching the lives of students and advancing public education.”
Responding to social change
Nell Lynes’ teaching career at Woodenbong Central School in 1984 before moving into the Multicultural Programs Unit in 1998.
Under Lyne’s leadership, the Multicultural Education team has overseen many achievements including the introduction of the English as an Additional Language/Dialect (EAL/D) Education Leadership Strategy in 2021 and the New Arrivals Program that provides intensive English support to newly arrived students, which was delivered to 6,275 students across 670 schools in 2022.
With 12,000 students from refugee backgrounds and 38.6 per cent of all NSW public students coming from a home speaking another language other than English, the work of Lynes and her team is fundamental in ensuring an inclusive NSW public education system.
In addition, Lynes is a valued member of the NSW Community Resilience and Response Plan (COMPLAN), a cross-agency committee that meets to identify, assess, monitor and share information and resources about community well-being, impacts from overseas conflicts and other global crises.
Throughout her long career in NSW public education, Lynes has always placed the needs of the state’s public school students and their families at the centre of her decision-making.
She has been unwavering in her goal to deliver equity and positive educational experiences for students from all backgrounds and circumstances, as well as in providing the highest quality of service and advice to the families, schools and educational leaders who support them.
An infectious passion for mathematics education
Under Michelle Tregoning’s leadership, the landscape of mathematics education in NSW has evolved in many inspirational ways.
She has led the Building Numeracy Leadership program, which supports the teaching and learning of math in some of the most socio-economically disadvantaged schools across NSW.
Tregoning also oversaw the development of the Thinking Mathematically K-6 suite of resources, with more than 250 mathematically rich, educational videos, which have had more than four million views worldwide in four years.
Around 95 per cent of K-6 public school teachers have participated in mathematics professional development that Tregoning has designed and led.
Leadership, expertise and basketball
Lauretta Claus started teaching in 1988 and has since held senior roles in NSW schools, including Deputy Principal, Principal, and Director of Educational Leadership.
On top of these high-profile education sector roles, she has also committed more than four decades of her life to basketball, has become the lead statistics reviewer for international men’s and women’s basketball World Cups and has been inducted into the Basketball NSW Hall of Fame.
Claus says she is “very humbled by the honour, but also very proud of the many wonderful opportunities that public education and my sport have given me”.
“What makes this recognition extra special is that I can also celebrate with the amazing colleagues, I have been blessed to work with.”