A young Canberra boy, who learned sign language to help his deaf friend at school, has won a special humanity award from the Fred Hollows Foundation.

Ross Kelly, a Year Six student at Amaroo Primary School, stepped forward to learn Auslan when his friend Isam Gurung first came to the school a year ago.

Ross said his friend found it very difficult to settle into a mainstream school in Canberra after being at a specialist school in Sydney.

"He came and he was very, very shy he didn't want to come to class the first few days," Ross said.

He said at first things were not easy.

"We started out writing notes to each other and I decided this wasn't very efficient because there was always a delay," he said.

"If you write down 'look at that bird there', you write it down and you give it to Isam, [but] the bird's already gone."

So Ross took a new tack and began learning the language of Australia's deaf community, Auslan.

The school does provide an interpreter for classes, but Ross's role has provided something more valuable.

Canberra student Ross Kelly was presented his award by ACT Chief Minister. ( ABC News: Elizabeth Byrne )

Gabi Hollows said what made him stand out from the many nominations from other schools in Canberra was his friendship with Isam when he first arrived.

"He came into a new environment here in Canberra and he had an interpreter at school but having a friend who can communicate with him is another thing again," Ms Hollows said.

"They've got a lovely bond these two boys."

Awards encourage thoughtfulness: Gabi Hollows

Isam and his family watched on as Ross collected his award from ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr.

Isam's father Indra said Ross's friendship with his son had made all the difference, with the boys often together outside school, including at Scouts where Isam recently hosted a deaf awareness night.

"We played a game with Auslan, we taught all the hearing Scouts the signs and the Auslan alphabet and the numbers up to 10," Mr Gurung said.

"We've never seen the Scout night so quiet."

As the winner of this year's top award, Ross was able to nominate a charity to receive a $5,000 donation.

He chose one of the Fred Hollows school-based eye health education projects in Cambodia.

"This one just came to me because the students are the same age as myself my siblings," Ross said.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said he was not surprised by the level of awareness of children about the plight of others.

"There's no doubt that this generation of students are much more globally engaged, even than my generation," he said.

"There's no doubt the internet and technology has enabled people to feel they can make a big difference in a chosen area almost anywhere in the world."

Gabi Hollows said the awards were set up to encourage thoughtfulness.

"Kids get awards for sport and their academic stuff but they don't get awards for being a really nice guy or girl," she said.

"We were just really trying to encourage young kids to think about others.

"If we can blossom a few young souls that can be helpful to someone else."

The award program now operates in New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria as well as the ACT.