Mr Bevan is one of 10 winners selected from 23,000 nominations of teachers nation- wide in 'A Day Made Better'.

Sponsored by stationery suppliers OfficeMax, it took nominations from students, colleagues, family and friends.

"It's amazing," Mr Bevan said of his award win, which gifted $2000 worth of material supplies to the school.

The UK-born and -trained teacher credited his win to "just being an enthusiastic person".

In nominations for A Day Made Better, Mr Bevan was lauded for making "everyone feel like they have a purpose".

Others wrote of him as "a true inspiration", one who is "supportive and encouraging", with "incredible energy and vitality".

Mr Bevan teaches science, leads some 60 students in extra-curricular House activities, coaches the hockey Firsts, and runs 'Outback'.

The latter takes Oxley's Year 11 cohort on a two-week road trip to Uluru in the Term 3 holidays, "a voyage of discovery".

"I like to throw myself into things," Mr Bevan said. "It's important that education is holistic, for the whole child, to relate things to everyday life.

"And the more you get to know students outside the classroom, the better they are inside the classroom."

A teacher at Oxley since 2001, Mr Bevan said its students and staff "are wonderful, so it's a really nice place to be".

Apart from material supplies, the award also gave Mr Bevan "a boost that all that hard work ... is recognised and worthwhile, to keep on keeping on. It just highlights it is important to keep on doing those things ... which is to help the kids get the best out of all avenues of education."