Male primary teachers make an impact on UK tour
All Award winners in running for gold Platos
Male teachers in primary schools may be hard to find but they have shone at this summer’s Teaching Awards ceremonies around Britain.
Three out of seven winners of the Royal Air Force Award for Teacher in a Primary School are men and a total of six out of 14 winning primary teachers across several categories are male.
All received silver Platos – education’s symbol of excellence – during the Teaching Awards UK tour of Wales, Northern Ireland and five English regions last month.
Judges have variously described the six men as having ‘the X factor, a wow factor, that certain twinkle or spark’, as being ‘truly talented and energetic’ and as working in classrooms filled with ‘fun and laughter’. Half of them have been nominated by parents, pupils or former pupils.
The trend for men to be successful and popular when they develop a career in primary teaching is reflected in the results among headteachers; out of seven winners in the National College Award for Headteacher of the Year in a Primary School, four are male leaders.
Michael Wade, winner of the RAF Award for Teacher of the Year in a Primary school in London and the South East, is a Year 6 teacher and deputy head at Brady Primary School in Havering. He said: ‘They say I’m a Romford barrow boy who still has an ongoing ADHD problem but I take that as a compliment.
‘I’ve taught 320 children in 11 years and I’ve never met a child who doesn’t have ability or who doesn’t want to be aspirational. Thank you to them - because they make me look a lot better than I actually am!’
This year the Teaching Awards attracted a record number of nominations - 9,224. Judges shortlisted 218 finalists and visited each of their schools before choosing 72 winners and 146 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.
The youngest winning teacher is Kate Campion-Smith, a 25-year-old scientist with a first class degree from Cambridge who has boosted triple science teaching - biology, chemistry and physics - at Cator Park school in Bromley and who also runs a charity for Ugandan orphans. The oldest is 69-year-old Garfield Thomas, an ICT teacher and computer ‘wizard’ at Cardinal Newman Catholic Comprehensive School in Pontypridd, Wales, who is a veteran swimmer and former navigator in the RAF.
There are 14 winning headteachers in two categories sponsored by the National College. Teaching assistants – including a former soldier - are recognised by the TDA Award for Teaching Assistant of the Year; individual governors – including a captain of industry – received the DfE Teaching Award for Governor of the Year. Six ‘green’ schools have received the DfE Award for Sustainable Schools.
A new Award for Outstanding School Team of the Year has proved popular, particularly with special schools which won silver Platos 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. Three special needs teachers were among six winners of the DfE Teaching Award for Enterprise.
All now go forward to the UK Teaching Awards ceremony on Sunday October 31 when gold plato winners will be announced and featured in an hour-long programme on BBC2.
