Music plays and an image appears of the Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools medallion in the centre screen, and text appears beneath: Matt Dodds, BSC BED]
[Images move through to show a close view of Matthew Dodds and a student setting up a rocket on an oval]
Matthew Dodds: I have always been passionately curious about how the universe works and how things work on a deeper level.
[Images move through to show Matt talking to the students, the students listening and laughing, and the Matt handing a controller to a student]
And so from a very young age I actually took my dad’s drill apart to see how that worked and put it back together with a few spare parts.
[Images move through to show a facing and then close profile view of Matt seated behind a table, and then a view of Glen Innes High School, and the medallion and text appears: Matt Dodds]
Hi, I’m Matt Dodds. I am the Physics and Biology teacher at Glen Innes High School which is about 500km north of Sydney in New South Wales.
[Images move through to show a close view of the Glen Innes High School sign, a facing and then profile view of Matt talking to the camera, and then Matt teaching a classroom of students]
Glen Innes High School has about 400 students from Year 7 through to Year 12 and the students come from a variety of backgrounds.
[Images move through to show a close view of a Periodic Table chart, Matt talking to the camera, Matt working with two students, and a female student looking into the eyepiece of a telescope]
I am really passionate about teaching in regional areas of Australia and so students, you know, that aren’t located in a big city can still get access to a quality education.
[Music plays and the image changes to show the female student looking up and smiling while a male student looks into the eyepiece of another telescope]
[Image changes to show a facing and then close profile view of Matt talking to the camera]
Initially when I arrived at Glen Innes High School the Physics numbers weren’t potentially where they should be or could be.
[Image changes to show a student raising his hand in class, and then the image changes to show Matt pointing to the student]
I teach data driven experimental physics.
[Image changes to show various rocket display projects, and then the image changes to show Matt talking to the class]
One of the activities that I use for my senior Physics class is a rocketry task where they work in groups, they build a rocket, and they launch it.
[Image changes to show Matt talking to the camera, and then the image changes to show the students carrying their rocket equipment across an oval and setting it up with Matt]
So, getting the students involved, building things, making things together, trying to communicate them a philosophy of ‘Failure is acceptable, failure is a part of learning’.
[Images move through to show the students looking and laughing, Matt talking to the camera, a close view of a physics project, and a female student displaying the project]
One of the assessments I do where they have to build a teaching tool for physics and then present that to the class, it empowers them and it lets them exhibit their creativity.
[Images move through to show Matt with his students, a side and then facing view of Matt talking to the camera, Matt talking to the students, and then Matt working with female students on laptops]
The Physics numbers at the school have dramatically increased and one thing that I am most proud of is the increase in the number of girls doing Physics.
[Image changes to show a close view of Matt working with the female students]
Now we have the girls outnumber the boys 3:1, which is pretty impressive.
[Images move through to show a facing and then profile view of Matt talking to the camera, and then Matt teaching the students]
I am extremely humbled to receive the Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools.
[Images move through to show a student asking a question, Matt working with students at the telescopes, Matt explaining something to the students, and Matt talking to the camera]
I think it is great recognition for the science teaching that happens, not just at Glen Innes High School, but all around Australia in regional and remote areas.
[Images move through to show Matt holding up four left hand fingers and holding a controller in his right hand at the rocket launch, five students watching, and then Matt counting down on his fingers]
I think my students would be really proud that I have received this prize.
[Image changes to show Matt pressing the button on the controller]
I tell my students that studying Physics can open up lots of different career pathways.
[Images move through to show the rocket launching, Matt and the students looking up at the rocket, and a close view of the students looking up]
I tell them that Physics teaches you how to think critically and these pathways include, Engineering, Dentistry, Medicine, even Economics.
[Image changes to show Matt talking to the camera, and then the image changes to show Matt smiling at the camera]
Just because we’re in Glen Innes doesn’t mean that any opportunities are off the table. They can do anything they want to do.
[Music plays and the image changes to show the Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching medallion, and the Australian Government Coat of Arms, and text appears in the centre: 2025 Prime Minister’s Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching in Secondary Schools]
