Nominations are now open!
The Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA) invites nominations for
the 2017 Outstanding Early Childhood Teacher Award and
Promising Early Childhood Teacher Award.
This Award recognises the achievements of outstanding and promising early childhood teachers
committed to delivering high quality early childhood care and education. They strive for
excellence in early childhood through continuing professional development to scale up the
quality of their curriculum and pedagogical practices. They are dedicated to strengthening
partnerships as they believe in making a positive difference in the lives of children and their
families.
Centre leaders and HQ personnel are invited to nominate outstanding and promising early
childhood teachers for these Awards. Parents interested in supporting the nominations may
liaise with your child’s kindergarten or child care centre. Please refer to the attached guidelines
on submitting the awards nomination package.
Closing Date: Wednesday, 3 May 2017 (5pm)
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ECDA Awards for Excellence in Early Childhood Development 2017
Outstanding & Promising Early Childhood Teacher Awards
Guidelines
Eligibility
Upon submission of the nomination package, all nominees must meet the following criteria:
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Be in-service ECDA-certified teachers teaching 18 months to 6 years old children;
Be from ECDA-registered kindergartens or ECDA-licensed child care centres;
Possess a Level 2 Letter of Notification (LON) and Diploma in Early Childhood Care and Education- Teaching
(DECCE-T) or equivalent early childhood qualifications;
 Be a Singapore Citizen or Permanent Resident; and
 Have the required experience for the following Awards:
o Outstanding Early Childhood Teacher Award: At least 5 years of trained teaching experience.
o Promising Early Childhood Teacher Award: At least 3 years of trained teaching experience.
Past outstanding winners are to note that there is a time bar of three (3) years for Individual Awards before
you may be nominated for the Awards again. You may, however, be nominated for the Awards in other
categories (subject to meeting the eligibility criteria).
How to Apply
 Identify your nominee/s
 Prepare the nomination package which will include:
o
Completed Sections A to E of the nomination form.
o
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Supporting documents listed in Section F of the nomination form (e.g. portfolios, videos,
photographs, parents’ testimonials, etc.)
Ensure that the nomination text illustrates the exemplary achievements of your nominee and provides
clear supporting evidence.
The nomination package should be submitted in 4 sets of hard copy in individual folders (CDs, DVDs or
thumb drives, if applicable, should be appended to the nomination package).
Incomplete or late submissions will not be accepted.
All information and materials submitted will not be returned.
Format
 All text should be typewritten and double-spaced using Arial font, size 11.
 Please adhere to the maximum page count.
The soft copy of nomination form can be accessed at bit.ly/ECDA_Awards.
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Award Quantum
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The Award Quantum will be as follows:
o Outstanding Early Childhood Teacher Award: Award winners will each receive $2,000 for
professional development, $500 cash, a trophy and a certificate.
o Promising Early Childhood Teacher Award: Award winners will each receive $500 for professional
development, $300 cash, a plaque and a certificate.
The winners are required to submit a proposal on how the grant for professional development will be used
for his/her professional development.
Winners will be notified in September 2017 and the Awards will be presented at the ECDA Early Childhood
Conference on Friday, 6 October 2017. Winners may be invited to share their award-winning practices at
the conference and other early childhood sharing platforms (e.g. the Grow@Beanstalk Portal, Beanstalk
Magazine).
Please note that the judging panel’s decision is final and correspondence with regard to the panel’s
decision will not be entertained. ECDA may, on a case by case basis, consider good candidates for a
commendation award.
Code of Conduct
The Early Childhood Teacher Award winner is to adhere to the following Code of Conduct.
The award winner shall:
 manage media inquiries with respect to the ECDA Awards in a fair, polite and non-partisan manner;
 be expected to work with his / her centre to ensure, to the best of his / her ability, the proper, effective
and efficient use of public funds; and
 conduct himself / herself in a professional manner in accordance with the standards set by his / her centre.
Failure to do so will be seen as undermining the credibility, integrity or relevance of the ECDA Awards, or
to detract from the original conditions upon which the Award was given.
The award winner shall not:
 exploit his / her status as an award winner for commercial gain;
 use the ECDA Awards title without the explicit permission of ECDA;
 endorse or market products for commercial purposes other than for the centre that he / she is currently
employed in; and
 abuse his / her status to advance or promote political views.
The award winner must not have been convicted of a criminal offence in which he / she has not received a
pardon for.
The above Code of Conduct is fundamental to being selected as an award winner. If an award winner fails to
abide by this code, ECDA reserves the right to:
 remove the award winner’s name / centre affiliation from its website and from any other publication that
is used to promote outstanding professionals in early childhood education in Singapore, and / or
 revoke the ECDA Award. This will immediately apply to cases where a teaching or early childhood
education certification has been withdrawn for reasons of professional misconduct and instances in which
an award winner has been convicted of a criminal offence.
Enquiries
For enquiries, please email [email protected] with the subject “ECDA Awards 2017 (Early Childhood
Teacher)”.
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ECDA Awards for Excellence in Early Childhood Development 2017
Outstanding & Promising Early Childhood Teacher Awards
NOMINATION FORM
Please complete Sections A–F. Incomplete submissions will not be entertained.
Section A : Particulars of Centre
Name of Centre
(as registered in One @
ECDA)
Address
Contact No. (Office)
Email
Section B : Particulars of Nominee (Teacher)
Award Recommended for
Nominee
* Outstanding/Promising Early Childhood Teacher Award
Name of Nominee
* Mr / Mrs / Mdm / Ms / Dr
Affix Coloured
Passport Photo
NRIC / FIN
Nationality
Contact No. (Mobile)
Email
Highest Academic
Qualifications
* ‘O’ Levels / ‘A’ Levels / Diploma / Degree / Others :
Highest Professional
Qualifications
Year of Attainment of
DECCE-T or equivalent
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Years of trained service in
early childhood sector
(provide centre names
and duration of service at
each centre in
chronological order)
Name of Centre
Position Held
Duration
Total:
Years of service in current
centre
Age group of children
teaching currently
Section C : Particulars of Nominator
Name of Nominator
* Mr / Mrs / Mdm / Ms / Dr
Relationship with Centre
Contact
* Centre Principal / Supervisor / HQ Personnel / Others :
(O)
(M)
Email
Declaration
I, _________________________, the Nominator, declare that all information contained in this nomination
form is, to the best of my knowledge, accurate. I authorise ECDA to conduct a verification of the information
provided in this nomination. I understand and agree that all documents submitted for this award are nonreturnable. I also understand that photographs, videos and information submitted for this award may be
published and used as promotional and informational materials by ECDA in relation to the development of
early childhood care and education.
Signature of Nominator / Date: _______________________________________
* Delete accordingly
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Section D : Personal Statement By Nominee
Please adhere to a maximum of 1 page for Section D.
Personal Philosophy
 Describe your philosophy of early childhood care and education and the ways this philosophy is
translated into practice.
Award Nomination
 Tell us why you are deserving of the Outstanding or Promising Early Childhood Teacher Award. Highlight
key contributions and achievements that you have made to your centre, children, families and/or the
early childhood sector.
Supporting Documentation:
 Video clips (edited to not more than 5 minutes)
 Anecdotal records, reflections, photographs
 Parent testimonials and accolades
 Lesson plans
Section E : Nomination Text (to be completed by nominator)
Please adhere to a maximum of 3 pages for Section E.
Nominator to provide a write-up based on the criteria outlined below. Please include descriptions of the
nominee’s teaching, personal and professional qualities.
A. Relationships & Interactions with Children
Provide specific examples and evidence of how the nominee interacts and builds relationships with
children.
B. Supporting Children’s Holistic Development, Learning & Well-Being
Provide specific examples and evidence of how the nominee plans and implements culturally and
developmentally appropriate play and learning experiences for children’s holistic development by
adopting effective teaching and learning practices, and creating engaging environments to stimulate
and sustain children’s learning.
C. Partnerships and Collaboration with Families and the Community
Provide specific examples and evidence of how the nominee involves and engages families and/or the
community in the care, education and well-being of children.
D. Professionalism
Provide concrete evidence and specific examples of how the nominee adheres to professional standards
and ethics in working with children and families, and is committed to his/her own professional
development.
Section F : Checklist
Please use the list below to check that the required items (and supporting documents, if applicable) have
been attached to your submission.
 Nominee’s Letter of Notification (LON) from ECDA stating the nominee’s certification level and the
original year of certification.
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 Nominee’s academic and early childhood certificates (certified true-copies).
 3-5 letters of support
 Letters must be signed by the writer and should provide evidence of the nominee’s outstanding
achievements under any or all of the four judging criteria.
 Letters may come from anyone such as parents, children, peers and professional associations.
 Letters of support must not be older than 12 months upon nomination deadline, and must include
contact information (email address and telephone number) of the writer.
 Optional:
 Video clips
 Photographs
 ___________, etc.
Please check that that sections A to F have been accurately completed and supporting documents are
attached. You are required to submit 4 sets of hard copy submissions (including CDs / thumb drives of
videos, if any) by Wednesday, 3 May 2017, 5pm to the following address:
The ECDA Awards 2017 Secretariat
(Early Childhood Teacher Award)
Early Childhood Development Agency (ECDA)
51 Cuppage Road
#08-01
Singapore 229469
Thank You
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