Seeds of Knowledge Wins Outstanding Educational Service at the 2026 Local Business Awards

I thought we might win.

There. I said it.

In the lead-up to the 2026 Local Business Awards, I was quietly confident about Seeds of Knowledge. Not because I thought we were entitled to win, or because there weren’t other incredible businesses in our category.

I was confident because I know what we have built.

I see what happens inside our centres every week. I see our educators celebrating the smallest wins and finding another way when something doesn’t work. I see children walking through our doors who don’t believe they are “good at” reading, writing or maths, and slowly beginning to see themselves differently.

I know how much thought, care and heart goes into Seeds of Knowledge.

So yes, part of me thought we could win.

Then the day arrived… and I went very quiet.

I didn’t tell anyone we were going. I didn’t talk about the award let alone winning. I didn’t prepare a speech. Without really realising it, I think I was protecting myself from the possibility of disappointment.

And the irony of that wasn’t lost on me afterwards.

Sometimes we all protect ourselves from getting it wrong

At Seeds of Knowledge, we see children do this all the time.

They won’t put their hand up because they might have the wrong answer. They say, “I don’t know” before they’ve really tried. They avoid the difficult question because somehow it feels safer not to try than to try and get it wrong.

We spend so much time teaching our students that being brave doesn’t mean knowing how something will turn out. It means being willing to have a go anyway.

And there I was, doing my own grown-up version of exactly the same thing.

Then they announced:

Seeds of Knowledge – Outstanding Educational Service 2026.

The funny thing was that somehow, I was surprised… and not surprised at all.

I knew we were worthy of being there, but hearing our name called was something else entirely.

I hadn’t even prepared a speech!

Why this award means so much

Seeds of Knowledge began more than ten years ago with an idea that came from my own classroom.

As a teacher, I saw incredibly capable children who were frightened of getting things wrong. It made me question what children really needed from education.

Yes, they needed to learn to read, write and understand mathematics.

But they also needed to know what to do when learning became difficult.

That belief became the foundation of Seeds of Knowledge and continues to guide us today:

We want to change the way children experience learning.

We want children to know they can struggle and succeed. Make a mistake and recover. Face something difficult and keep going.

Being named Outstanding Educational Service 2026 feels like recognition of that vision and of everything our community has built around it.

This belongs to our educators and families

Seeds of Knowledge would not be what it is today without our educators.

They notice when a child is unusually quiet. They celebrate the sentence that might look insignificant to someone else because they know how much courage it took that child to write it. They adjust, encourage, laugh, challenge and try again.

This award belongs to them… and it belongs to our families.

Every family who walks through our doors trusts us with something incredibly important – their child.

To every parent who has trusted us, given us feedback, recommended us to a friend, encouraged us or quietly told someone, “You should give Seeds of Knowledge a call”, thank you.

You are part of this award too.

And we’re not finished

For me, this award is recognition of an idea that started in one classroom more than ten years ago and has grown into something I am incredibly proud of.

Children deserve to experience what it feels like to struggle and then succeed. To discover they are capable of something they once thought they couldn’t do. To become confident, curious and resilient learners.

Perhaps that’s why, underneath all my nerves that night, part of me quietly believed we could win because I know how extraordinary this little business has become.

Not because of an award.

Because of the children, educators and families who have built it with us.

Winning Outstanding Educational Service 2026 is an incredible honour.

But there are still so many children who deserve the opportunity to experience learning differently.

And we are only getting started.

Lasni Motswagae
Founder, Seeds of Knowledge