Congratulations to all!
Inspirational, amazing, fantastic! These are just some of the accolades heaped on 72 stars in education who shone as winners at seven summer ceremonies – part of the 2010 Teaching Awards UK tour.
From a record number of nominations – 9224 - judges chose 218 finalists to recognise and celebrate in the English regions, Northern Ireland and in Wales. The 72 winners received silver Platos – education’s symbol of excellence - while the other 146 finalists were awarded distinctions and commendations.
Among the winners are 35 classroom teachers – more than one third of whom (13) were nominated by parents, pupils or ex pupils. Headteachers, teaching assistants and governors have also been recognised as outstanding individuals alongside sustainable schools.
A new award for Outstanding School Team of the Year has proved popular, particularly with special schools which won the silver Plato in three out of seven regions. A performing arts team, an art faculty and two primary whole school teams that transformed results were the other winners.
Emma Thompson, Teaching Awards president, addressed the London and South East ceremony, saying she had the utmost respect for teachers. She likened their work to performances by ballet dancers, constantly trying to keep their balance ‘on points’.
She said: ‘Teachers today not only shape lives but they save them - they catch young people before they fall. We talk a lot about education but we don’t often talk about the teachers who are the architects of our children’s lives and today I am very happy to say they are the heroes of the hour.’
All now go forward to the Teaching Awards UK ceremony on Sunday October 31 when gold Plato winners will be announced and featured in an hour-long programme on BBC2. The show is part of the Teaching Awards fellows’ weekend to celebrate all winners and their achievements.
In Wales the actor and children’s author, Henry Winkler, aka The Fonz, met the three finalists of the Henry Winkler Teaching Award for Special Needs. All three schools have won a bursary of £10,000 and the outright winner will receive an additional £5000 at the UK ceremony.
Henry, who is a Teaching Awards patron, told the audience in Wales
‘There are so many children across the entire kingdom that depend on you, on your generosity of spirit, on your knowledge and your willingness to help. After parents the most important human being on earth for a child is their teacher.’
The ceremonies were all hosted by local BBC news presenters over the past three weeks (June 8-24). The tour began at the Waterfront Hall in Belfast where teacher and former Miss Northern Ireland Judith Wilson presented an award. The last event was at the Rhodes Arts complex in the east of England where broadcaster and environment campaigner David Bellamy OBE presented. Elsewhere guest presenters were Lord (Melvyn) Bragg of Wigton, former general secretary of the National Union of Teachers Fred Jarvis and mathematician Carol Vorderman.
In four locations Baroness Shirley Williams, chair of the UK judging panel, hosted pre-ceremony discussions for finalists while in three others there were workshops with Mythodrama, a company set up by Richard Olivier that teaches leadership through Shakespeare.
Caroline Evans, chief executive of the Teaching Awards said
‘It has been an absolute honour to meet our outstanding Teaching Award finalists from across the UK. These inspiring individuals and staff teams have proved that they really do change children’s lives. They are back at school now, continuing to make a difference. We look forward to seeing the winners at the UK ceremony in October and to celebrating their achievements at the fellows’ weekend. Congratulations and many thanks to everyone involved.’
An additional award, the General Teaching Council Award for Excellence in Professional Development, was given at each ceremony in the English regions, in memory of Carol Adams, founding Chief Executive of the GTC.
