Pittwater House Year 10 student, Tanya Da Costa, has been selected as a finalist for the 2017 NSW International Student Awards for her outstanding community and school based work. 

Not only is Tanya actively fundraising for a high school to be built in her hometown of Soibada in Timor Leste, she is also active in Northern Beaches council workshops, the Duke of Edinburgh scheme and anti-bullying and suicide prevention projects.  She speaks publicly for the local Rotary club, as well as at church and at local primary schools. She has also spoken at her school, Pittwater House, to increase her peer group's awareness of Timor Leste and those less fortunate.

The NSW International Student Awards celebrate outstanding contributions made by international students to communities in NSW and acknowledge the organisations that support international students with community programs and initiatives. 

Tanya is one of three finalists within the NSW International Student Awards School’s category. The announcement was made yesterday by Niall Blair, Minister for Primary Industries, Minister for Regional Water, and Minister for Trade and Industry.

Pittwater House School Principal, Dr Nancy Hillier, said, “We are extremely proud of Tanya and are delighted she has been recognised in this way. In the time she has been at Pittwater House School she has shown enormous strength of character and is proactively involved in a wide variety of community initiatives”.

Dr Hillier said community service was a critical element of the Pittwater House Education.

“The School’s Skills and Service Program provides opportunities for every student to work on projects to support a vast array of community programs”.

Winners of the awards will be announced at an invitation-only ceremony on Friday 22 September 2017 at Government House in Sydney. The ceremony will be hosted by His Excellency General, David Hurley AC DSC (Ret'd), Governor of New South Wales, at Government.