iStore Education has recognised the winners of its 17th annual Excellence in Education Awards, which celebrate how South African educators and students are using Apple technology in the classroom.
This year’s challenge asked entrants: “How have you used Apple products to bring learning to life?” Projects spanned artificial intelligence, coding with Swift, digital storytelling and the use of iPad and Mac in lesson plans. A record 225 submissions were received from 32 schools across five provinces.
“We’re continually inspired by the incredible talent and innovation we see each year. The awards are a platform to celebrate the educators who are shaping future-ready learners through creativity, critical thinking and collaboration,” said Michelle Lissoos, director of iStore Education.
The 62 finalists and their families were invited to an awards evening at the iStore Sandton Drive lounge. Participants were evaluated across three grade categories: Foundation Phase (Grades R-3), Intermediate Phase (Grades 4-7) and Senior Phase (Grades 8-12) – and judged on three criteria:
Creative excellence: For imaginative use of technology to engage students
Curriculum excellence: For projects that effectively weave Apple products into lesson plans.
Tech excellence: For classrooms using coding or AI tools on Apple devices.
The Senior Phase category combined all three criteria for a single grand award. Winning students and their supervising teachers each received an iPad.
The winning projects
Creative excellence
Grades R-3:
1st place: Superheroes Adventure (Dorothea Special School, Western Cape)
2nd place: Stop Motion Afrikaans Oral (Rallim Preparatory School, Western Cape)
3rd place: Super Gingerbreadman vs Big Bad Wolf (Dorothea Special School, Western Cape)
Grades 4-7:
1st place: Banksy Stop Motion (Heronbridge College, Gauteng)
2nd place: Edgar Degas (Heronbridge College, Gauteng)
3rd place: Claude Monet (Heronbridge College, Gauteng)
Curriculum excellence
Grades R-3:
1st place: What Pets Need (Grey Junior, Eastern Cape)
2nd place: Ocean Pollution (Parklands College, Western Cape)
3rd place: Bookcreator Insects and Bugs (The Kusasa Academy, Western Cape)
Grades 4-7:
1st place: Song for a Whale (Cannons Creek, Western Cape)
2nd place: Future Farming: From Seeds to Sales (Parklands College, Western Cape)
3rd place: Biome Blitz: Escape the Poacher (Stirling Primary, Eastern Cape)
Tech excellence
Grades R-3:
1st place: Forward Thinking for the Future (Maragon Olympus, Gauteng)
2nd place: Retelling of the Three Little Pigs (Rallim Preparatory School, Western Cape)
3rd place: The Three Little Pigs (Rallim Preparatory School, Western Cape)
Grades 4-7:
1st place: How the Lion Got Its Roar (The Wykeham Collegiate, KwaZulu-Natal)
2nd place: The Great Boerewors Heist of South Africa (Stirling Primary, Eastern Cape)
3rd place: HitSmart: Measure the Hit, Master the Game (Stirling Primary, Eastern Cape)
Combined categories
Grades 8-12:
1st place: StudyPal (St John’s College, Gauteng)
2nd place: iPlanet, A Living Curriculum on the iPad (Durban Girls College, KwaZulu-Natal)
3rd place: “Ow! My iBack” (Durban Girls College, KwaZulu-Natal)
The awards are part of iStore's broader investment in education. In a recent ITWeb TV interview, CEO Chris Dodd highlighted the new AI Skills Hub at its Sandton head office, which provides entrepreneurs and students with access to high-performance Apple hardware. The company also runs coding camps and, through its iSchoolAfrica partnership, has been equipping under-resourced schools with Apple technology and teacher training for 15 years.
Share