Recently our friends at the Retired Teachers’ Association judged the inaugural Public Education Foundation Essay Competition.  We heard from Year 11 students across the state express their belief in and commitment to the value of a strong public education system.  It was incredibly heartening to hear such a deep understanding of the values of excellence, quality and diversity coming through across the essays.  Below we announce the winner of that competition where you will also be able to read the winning entry.  Congratulations to all participants in the competition!

For those keeping an eye on our website for upcoming opportunities, now is the time to dive in and start applying.  Our main round of scholarships for 2017 has opened and we are delighted to be making the application process a smoother one by introducing an easy to use online system.

I am pleased to announce a new team member here at the Foundation; Alison Matheson has commenced as our new Office Manager, working Monday to Wednesday.  Alison is looking forward to supporting those students applying for 2017 scholarships, and will be overseeing the payment of our multi-year scholarships. 

I would also like to extend my gratitude to those generous individuals and organisations who donated to the Foundation at the end of the financial year.  We are now closer than ever to being able to keep up with the demand for scholarships, particularly our Friends of Zainab Scholarship which tripled in demand last year. It is never too late to consider donating to the Foundation and any gifts received before the end of the calendar year can be utilised in the upcoming scholarship deliberations.  If you would like to speak further about how you can help, please don’t hesitate to contact the Foundation, or to make a donation online.

Michelle Stanhope, General Manager

Calling all public school students!  Now is the time to have a look at our website and see which scholarships you might be eligible to apply for.  We have opportunities from primary school students through to students transitioning from Year 12 to university. 

This year we have introduced a new online application process for all of our scholarships.  FluidReview is designed to make scholarship applications easy to write and easy to manage.  When you sign up to the system you will need to take a short questionnaire which determines the scholarships you are eligible to apply for (there may be more than one).  Once you have selected the scholarship you wish to apply for, you can complete the application at your own pace and submit when you are ready. 

Applications will close on 31 October.

The Minister for Education Adrian Piccoli has today congratulated Year 11 student Lea Osmanagic from Ryde Secondary College on winning the inaugural 2016 Public Education Foundation Essay Competition.  Mr Piccoli said Lea’s essay convincingly advocates for a strong public education system that benefits society as well as individual students. 

Lea’s entry was judged by the Retired Teachers’ Association as being the top entry from a state-wide pool of essays.  She will receive a $1,000 scholarship from the Public Education Foundation to support her education.

To read Lea’s winning entry click here.

The Harding Miller Education Foundation is excited to offer 75 new scholarships in 2017. Girls entering Year 9 next year and studying in an Australian Public School are eligible to apply. Scholarships are awarded for 2 years and at the end of Year 10 scholars will be invited to apply to extend their scholarship for their senior years of high school. You can hear from Amy Ibbott of Coonamble High School about her experience here. 

Scholarship recipients receive a high quality laptop in their first year. Annually, scholars also receive:

• 4G mobile broadband internet for the laptop
• Laptop Helpdesk Support
• $2,000 worth of Face-To-Face Tutoring
• Online Tutoring & other online tools
• Coaching Support
• Career and subject selection advice
• Gift cards to help cover the costs of
• Uniforms & school equipment.
• School excursions & fees.
• Stationery & books

Please visit the Foundation's website for more details and to apply.

For more information, please call or email Cara Varian on

02 9556 7537 or info@hardingmillerfoundation.org.au.