Tamworth's St Edward's Primary School principal Dr Jake Madden awarded fellowship from Australian Council for Educational Leaders

St Edward's Primary School principal Dr Jake Madden, has been awarded a fellowship from peak education body the Australian Council for Educational Leaders for his contribution to student and organisational outcomes.

Dr Madden said he felt both "humbled" and excited" about the recognition.

"It's always wonderful to be affirmed and acknowledged by your peers and the organisation that oversees you," he said.

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With a career spanning across three states and four educational systems across the country and globe, Mr Madden said his passion for education took things back to basics.

"Every kid deserves a quality education, every day, every month, every term and every year," he said.

"I think what drives me is to ensure that every kid will be better tomorrow than they are today.

"To be better versions of themselves so they can play their part and do wonderful things."

Describing himself as an educator focused on collaboration, Dr Madden thinks of teachers as researchers to encourage professional development.

Earlier this year the St Edward's school community published a 'Teacher Professional Learning' resource, made up of individual research projects from staff.

"I really like working with the teaching community to help them be better in their job, which will lead to better student learning experiences as well," he said.

Under his leadership, St Edward's has found itself in the top 10 shortlisted schools in the T4 World's Best School Prize in the category 'Overcoming Adversity'.

The school was also a finalist in the Australian Education Awards for Best Primary School and Best Professional Learning Program.

Dr Madden is also the editor of the Journal of Applied Research and Innovation, sits on the editorial board for the International Journal of Innovation, Creativity and Change and is the inaugural dean of the Australian College of Researchers.

With a number of roles under his belt, Dr Madden said being there for his students was still his number one priority.

"It's about ensuring they meet the prescribed outcomes of their year levels but also that they want to come to school, that they enjoy the activities and their experience is positive," he said.

"We want to ensure that they're ready to kick off in high school and counter whatever life throws at them along the way."

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