Year levels, categories and numbers. We will quote the night in one go, with dated timings worked back from speech night and a proof before anything is engraved.
Award ideas
School awards
worth winning
Dux picks itself. The rest of speech night is a design problem: how many awards, across which year levels, recognising what — and how to make sure the student who worked hardest is not the one who goes home with nothing. Twenty-four categories below.
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Twenty-four categories for speech night
Take the name as it stands or adapt it to your school’s language. Each one recognises something different — two awards for the same thing is how a night gets long and an award gets cheap.
Class of 2026
Dux Of The School
Highest aggregate, named on the board
Final Year
Proxime Accessit
Runner-up to the Dux, by its proper name
Year 7–11
Year Level Dux
The graded academic award, per year
Academic Excellence
Top Of The Grade
Awarded per subject or per stream
Academic Improvement
Furthest Travelled
Rewards the gap, not the finish line
All-Round Achievement
Academic & Beyond
Results plus contribution, together
Mathematics
Excellence In Mathematics
One per subject, one per year level
English
Excellence In English
Consistent naming across the faculty
Science
Excellence In Science
Or split by discipline in senior years
The Arts
Excellence In The Arts
Music, drama, visual art under one banner
Technology
Excellence In Technology
Design, digital and applied subjects
Languages
Excellence In Languages
Named for the language where it suits
Citizenship Award
How We Treat Each Other
The school’s values, made specific
Encouragement Award
Kept Going
For the year that was hard and finished anyway
Principal’s Award
Chosen By The Principal
One per year level, no criteria published
Endeavour Award
Effort Above Result
The award most often remembered years later
Resilience Award
Came Back
For a year interrupted by something outside school
Leadership Award
Led Without Being Asked
Not the captain — the other one
Service To The School
Behind The Scenes
Library, canteen, tech crew, tours
House Champion
For The House
Points across the year, not one carnival
Sportsperson Of The Year
Across All Codes
One per year level, or one per school
Team Contribution
Played For The Side
The sport award that is not about winning
Community Award
Outside The Gate
Volunteering, fundraising, representing the school
Alumni Recognition
Class Of —
For a past student the school wants remembered
Class of 2026
Dux Of The School
Highest aggregate, named on the board
Final Year
Proxime Accessit
Runner-up to the Dux, by its proper name
Year 7–11
Year Level Dux
The graded academic award, per year
Academic Excellence
Top Of The Grade
Awarded per subject or per stream
Academic Improvement
Furthest Travelled
Rewards the gap, not the finish line
All-Round Achievement
Academic & Beyond
Results plus contribution, together
Mathematics
Excellence In Mathematics
One per subject, one per year level
English
Excellence In English
Consistent naming across the faculty
Science
Excellence In Science
Or split by discipline in senior years
The Arts
Excellence In The Arts
Music, drama, visual art under one banner
Technology
Excellence In Technology
Design, digital and applied subjects
Languages
Excellence In Languages
Named for the language where it suits
Citizenship Award
How We Treat Each Other
The school’s values, made specific
Encouragement Award
Kept Going
For the year that was hard and finished anyway
Principal’s Award
Chosen By The Principal
One per year level, no criteria published
Endeavour Award
Effort Above Result
The award most often remembered years later
Resilience Award
Came Back
For a year interrupted by something outside school
Leadership Award
Led Without Being Asked
Not the captain — the other one
Service To The School
Behind The Scenes
Library, canteen, tech crew, tours
House Champion
For The House
Points across the year, not one carnival
Sportsperson Of The Year
Across All Codes
One per year level, or one per school
Team Contribution
Played For The Side
The sport award that is not about winning
Community Award
Outside The Gate
Volunteering, fundraising, representing the school
Alumni Recognition
Class Of —
For a past student the school wants remembered
Most schools run four to six awards per year level, plus the whole-school awards at the end. The temptation is always to add more.
The honour boards behind the stage are why the category names matter more than the trophies.
Designing the night
Four awards per year level, not fourteen
01
One academic, one improvement
The top of the grade and the biggest gain. Together they say the school values both, which is the whole argument for having a speech night.
02
One character, one service
Chosen by staff rather than calculated. These are the two students remember, because somebody had to decide it about them personally.
03
Subject awards, separately
If subject prizes are given, present them by faculty or in assemblies through the year — putting all of them on speech night is what makes it run to two hours.
The dilution problem
Every extra award makes the others slightly cheaper. A school that gives fourteen awards per year level is giving participation certificates with trophies attached, and the students know it.
The long view
Honour boards outlive every trophy
01
Name the category once
A board carries the category name for thirty years. Renaming it in 2031 breaks the record it exists to keep.
02
Match the plate, every year
Same font, same layout, same spacing. We hold the artwork so the plate added next December sits with the ones from 1998.
03
Plan the space
Boards fill faster than schools expect. We size for a known number of years and tell you when a second board is the cheaper answer.
We keep the record
Artwork, layout and winner history stay on file, and we remind you before speech night. PERPETUAL TROPHY RECORDS
How many awards
What a typical school orders
A shape to check your own list against before it grows another category.
Awards by school size
School
Year-level awards
Subject prizes
Whole-school
Total
Primary, one stream
4 per year × 6
Usually none
3–4
around 28
Primary, two streams
4 per year × 12
Usually none
3–4
around 52
Secondary, Years 7–12
4 per year × 6
6–10 per year level
5–6
around 90
P–12, multi-campus
4 per year × 13
6–10 per year level
6–8
Quantity pricing applies at 25+ (6% off), 50+ (12%) and 100+ (24%) on the total order, so ordering the whole school at once rather than per campus is usually worth doing.
Good to know
School award questions
How many awards should a speech night have?
Four to six per year level plus the whole-school awards is the shape most schools land on. Ninety seconds per award including the walk and the photograph is the honest timing to plan against.
Should every student receive something?
In primary years, often yes — a participation or year-completion award for everyone, with the graded awards on top. In secondary it usually stops working, because students can tell the difference.
Trophies, medals or certificates?
Certificates for subject prizes, medals or small trophies for year-level awards, and one substantial piece for dux and the whole-school awards. The step up is what signals the tier.
Can awards be added to an existing honour board?
Yes — send a photograph of the board and we match the plate style, spacing and font. If the board is full we will tell you honestly whether a matching second board or a re-layout is the better answer.
When should we order for speech night?
Earlier than feels necessary, because the results that decide the names arrive late. Order the pieces on the known numbers and hold the plates — plates can be cut and fitted close to the date.
Do you supply certificates too?
Talk to us about what the night needs as a whole rather than piece by piece — the answer is usually a mix, and mixing does not affect your quantity break.
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