AVE opens entries for the 2024 Principals of the Year Awards Gala

AVE (Association for Values in Education) is opening entries for the 2024 Principals of the Year Awards Gala, an event that highlights the achievements of principals in public high schools, schools and kindergartens in Romania. Entries can be made online from 16 May until 10 July 2024 (23:59). All principals and deputy principals in office during the school year 2023 – 2024 are eligible to apply, except those who have been awarded in previous editions of the Gala.

The Principals of the Year Awards Gala is an opportunity to demonstrate that principals are a vector for change that boosts the education community and inspires other principals. With each edition of the Awards, AVE facilitates partnerships between schools and companies, schools and NGOs, and amplifies the impact of education in everyone’s lives, beyond the immediate school environment.

“The effects of this event, where we celebrate and award, for the eighth consecutive time, the Principals of the Year, are felt first and foremost at the community level. With each edition, this Gala has succeeded in mobilizing an extensive network of leaders from all fields who have recognized the vital importance of investing in education. Finalist and award-winning school principals have become inspirational role models, and their ideas have spread beyond the classroom, influencing practice at local, regional and national levels. We can say today with confidence that by showcasing achievements and putting principals with visible results in the spotlight over time, they are producing significant changes in education, in the butterfly effect, at all levels, by involving different actors in society”, says Andreea Nistor, AVE Executive Director.

The awards ceremony will take place on 24 October at the Bucharest National Opera.

During the Gala, 4 school principals will be rewarded for the categories Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Equal Opportunities, as well as the grand prize, Principal of the Year 2024.

The Innovation category highlights achievements that have unlocked processes, involved actors outside the school to achieve goals, and considered the use of technology or innovation elements for visible learning in students.

The Entrepreneurship category covers demonstrated skills in managing resources and budgets, identifying and attracting additional income, and the ability to see opportunities where there were challenges.

The Equal Opportunities category is dedicated to actions that have helped every pupil to participate in school, and the most vulnerable children to be included and progress in school.

The Principal of the Year 2024 title is awarded to one of the finalists of the top 3 award categories who exceeds the expected level of a category and meets cross-cutting criteria: has a clear vision of the direction in which they lead the school, demonstrates creativity, communication and negotiation skills, resilience in the face of challenges, is an inspiring leader, knows how to motivate their team and create a good learning environment for adults and pupils.

Principals can apply by completing an online application form for up to two of the three award categories (Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Equal Opportunities). Each director entered is also automatically considered for the grand prize, Principal of the Year 2024. Also, anyone who knows a principal with outstanding results can recommend them for entry by filling in an online form.

The selection and judging for the Principal of the Year Awards Gala is done in five stages – validation of entries, preliminary assessment, regional judging, national judging and the 2024 Principal of the Year.

New this year is the inclusion of an additional regional judging stage, so there will be 4 regional judging stages according to geographical division (East, South, West Central). Each region will send 3 winners for the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Equal Opportunities categories to the Bucharest stage.

The award for each category will be 3,500 Euro, which is intended to support the principals in their ongoing school projects or to start a new project, as well as a guaranteed place in the Romanian School Transformation Programme, coordinated by AVE.

Under this programme, the school will be supported 360° so that each child makes visible progress in key life skills relevant to the 21st century. Over 3 years, AVE will accompany the school in accelerated, scalable and customisable processes of transformation and learning through developing skills for pupils, teachers and principals; building supportive and collaborative relationships; and continuously measuring visible progress.

The Principals of the Year Awards Gala aims to recognise and support school principals who, through their initiatives and projects, are impacting pupils’ lives, highlighting their essential role in the educational process whose short- and long-term effects determine all economic and social spheres.