John Scarlett is the man behind TIP ... a former school principal and Bank First director who came up with the idea of rewarding innovation in Victorian schools. We spoke to John about the establishment of TIP and what it means to him, 30 years later!

The 'credit union' has always been a supporter of schools. When I joined the board, there was one award which went to one teacher in one school. Although that was great for that one school, the board decided we needed to open it up and give more schools an opportunity.

I was asked by our Chair to write a paper which was endorsed by the board and TIP was born.

The whole idea was to provide funding for teachers who had great ideas for teaching which didn't have anything to do with the current curriculum or that was a directive from the Education Department. We wanted to support teachers with great innovative ideas to teach their students which they would struggle to get funding for.

We would give out about 20 awards for a year and it was a highlight of the year for us all, as I'm sure it is today.

One year we funded an African teacher who came out to Gippsland. The community held fundraisers to pay for the teacher's wages and we paid for the airfare. Her focus was on interacting with and teaching African children in Gippsland secondary schools.

Some of our rural schools didn't have a lot of money and I really loved going out to those schools to present their TIP awards. But it wasn't just about the money. I remember being at a school and after the formal handover of the cheque and woman in the crowd asked me if we (the credit union) funded weddings and funerals. She was after a personal loan for her engagement. I connected her with a staff member and she qualified for a personal loan.

It's wonderful to see TIP continuing to support schools throughout Victoria.