Woolf Fisher Fellowships
Rewarding excellence in education
The original Woolf Fisher Fellowships were awarded in 1960. Designed to send leading secondary teachers and principals overseas to examine different teaching practices, the Fellowships are now awarded to secondary, intermediate and primary principals and secondary teachers. Through the Fellowships, the Trust acknowledges and encourages excellence in educational leadership and ‘in-school’ practice in New Zealand.
To date, more than 1,100 Woolf Fisher Fellowships have been awarded.
Click here to view a list of current and past Woolf Fisher Fellows.
Recipients continue to receive their salary during the term of the Fellowship. Relief teaching costs in their school are provided by the Ministry of Education. The Fellowship provides funding to cover travel, study and associated costs of the Fellow and an accompanying spouse or partner (if any).
No applications for Fellowships are accepted. Instead, Fellowships are conferred by the Woolf Fisher trustees in accord with Sir Woolf’s wishes that a “magic of surprise” always be associated with the announcement of the awards and that no deserving teachers need feel rejected because of the limited number of awards. The trustees use a system of nomination which seeks to ensure that the awards are made to worthy principals and teachers across a representative range of schools and subjects.
Please Note: The essence of the Fellowships is the element of surprise. Under no circumstances can we accept applications for the Woolf Fisher Fellowships. This is a longstanding policy.
Woolf Fisher Police Fellowships
Rewarding dedication and outstanding contributions to New Zealand Police and the communities they serve
The original Woolf Fisher Fellowships were teaching fellowships and first awarded in 1960. The Woolf Fisher Police Fellowships mirror these teaching fellowships and were established in September 2017. Each recipient will receive funding for international travel, study and associated expenses. The primary purpose of the trip is to observe the practices of their overseas counterparts or undertake a pre-agreed programme of study.
The first of these annual awards were presented by the Commissioner of Police and the Chairman of the Woolf Fisher Trust to fifteen outstanding constabulary and non-constabulary employees from throughout New Zealand at a ceremony in Wellington in January 2018. Through the Police Fellowships, the Trust acknowledges and encourages excellence in policing in New Zealand. It believes that, over time, the Police Fellows will contribute towards the mission of better and efficient policing to make New Zealand the safest country.
Click here to view a list of recent Woolf Fisher Police Fellows.
Recipients continue to receive their salary during the term of the Police Fellowship. The Fellowship provides funding to cover travel, study and associated costs and funding of the Fellow and an accompanying spouse or partner (if any).
Police Fellows must be nominated by a third party. These nominations must be confidential as the nominee must not know of their nomination. No applications for Police Fellowships are accepted. Police Fellows are selected by the Board of the Woolf Fisher Trust on the advice of the Police. Nomination forms are available from New Zealand Police.