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This year’s Marily Scanlon Award for
Teaching Excellence was awarded to
two teachers, Brett Clark and Duncan
Ferguson, with the generosity of the
Scanlon Family supporting one of the
awards and the second funded by the
Board of Governors. Both teachers are
recognised by students as educators of
exceptional commitment and talent.
Brett Clark
Brett has taught at St Andrew’s since
1997. Originally a primary school
teacher, Brett moved into teaching in
the Secondary School where he focused
on Junior Mathematics, English and
Art History. Now as Head of Learning
Support at St Andrew’s, Brett recently
completed his PhD in the area of
effective learning. He investigated
a theory developed by University
of Canterbury researcher, the late
Professor Graham Nuthall, Brett was
able to conduct formal experiments in
the classroom to test these theories.
Brett has taught at St Andrew’s since
1997. Originally a primary school
teacher, Brett moved into teaching in
the Secondary School where he focused
on Junior Mathematics, English and
Art History. Now as Head of Learning
Support at St Andrew’s, Brett recently
completed his PhD in the area of
effective learning. He investigated
a theory developed by University
of Canterbury researcher, the late
Professor Graham Nuthall.
Tragically Professor Nuthall died
before he was able to conduct formal
experiments in the classroom to test
these theories. “The results of my
experiments supported Professor
Nuthall’s claim that students
needed three to four learning
opportunities to learn a set of new
facts or a new procedure.
In his classroom, Brett places a lot of
emphasis on the importance of effort.
“Many of our students have never truly
experienced the joy of achieving a really
tough and challenging goal through
sheer hard work and perseverance. I
think that an important part of my job
is to encourage students to display the
courage required to put a real effort
into things that they might not succeed
in,” he says. Brett is using the prize
money to attend Summer School at
the Morningside Academy in Seattle –
a special school that caters for the
needs of students who have severe
learning challenges.
Duncan Ferguson
Duncan has been Head of Music at
StAC for the past five years, during
which time he has seen the number
of students taking Music as a subject
double. A talented musician himself,
Duncan has built and co-ordinated a
vibrant, energetic Music Department
that supports students’ musical
interests from chamber music to rock
band, from choral to jazz. He introduced
technology as part of the curriculum
to make music more accessible to
students. Included in many of his
initiatives are the development of
a recording studio, an after-school
recording club whose members
produce sampler CDs, student-directed
productions, and the development of
a project-based learning course for
Year 13 students.
“It’s been important for me to create
an environment in which student
improvement is celebrated as much
as our major achievements,” he says.
Duncan has a national reputation
among music teachers, and regularly
runs holiday workshops where he
coaches the use of technology in music
teaching. His energy and inspiration
has matched a dramatic rise in the level
of student achievement. In 2013
St Andrew’s had New Zealand’s
top Music student, and last year
all students entered in the NZQA
Scholarship exam achieved Scholarship
putting them in the top three per cent of
Music students in the country. Duncan
is putting his prize towards a trip to
New York where he will visit schools
that specialise in Music Technology.
Duncan Ferguson teaching a music class.
Rector Christine Leighton congratulates Brett Clark on his receipt of the Marily Scanlon Award for
Teaching Excellence.
Recognising
excellence
teaching