Teachers with talent

17 June 2010

Teach First Awards recognise amazing work of teachers in challenging schools and highlight student talent

Educational charity Teach First last night (June 17) celebrated the outstanding commitment of its teachers and supporters and showcased the talent of students from some of the country’s most challenging schools at a dazzling event held at the Royal Geographical Society in London.

The winners, some of whom were chosen by school pupils, were honoured before an audience of corporate supporters, as well as key figures from government and the education and business sectors. Secretary of State for Education, Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, joined Teach First’s chair Dame Julia Cleverdon in presenting awards to Canary Wharf Group’s George Iacobescu and former Director General of Schools, Ralph Tabberer for their vital long-term support of the charity and commitment to addressing educational disadvantage.

The event was hosted and awards were presented by key figures who have themselves taught lessons during Teach First Week. The evening was hosted by Channel 4 presenters Krishnan Guru-Murthy and Samira Ahmed, and winners were presented with their awards by well-known personalities such as the BBC’s Apprentice winner Tim Campbell.  Strictly Come Dancing’s Craig Revel Horwood choreographed a dance routine for the grand finale with pupils from Debden Park High School. 

The Teach First Awards recognise the achievements of Teach First participants and ambassadors as they pursue the Teach First mission to address educational disadvantage through excellent teaching and leadership. 

Commenting on the winners awarded during the evening, Education Secretary Michael Gove said: “I would like to congratulate all of the winners of this year’s Teach First Awards – they are outstanding teachers and leaders.

“Teach First does a fantastic job recruiting academic highflyers with real leadership potential to become great teachers, especially in some of the most challenging schools and in specialist subjects.  I am committed to expanding this programme so we can have the very best teachers available in all of our schools and improve the quality of the teaching profession across the board.”

Brett Wigdortz, CEO and Founder of Teach First, said: “This year Teach First will help over 200,000 pupils in some of the country’s most challenging schools.  This would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of the exceptional graduates who access the programme and the massive support we receive across the education, business and political sectors.  This awards ceremony gives us an opportunity to celebrate this shared success as well as showcase some exceptionally talented students.” 

The 2010 Winners

TEACH FIRST EXCELLENCE AWARDS
Teach First is a demanding programme and participants need to be committed to excellence throughout the two year programme.  The Three Excellence Awards recognise participants who are outstanding in their curriculum area.  The finalists have all demonstrated that they have motivated and inspired pupils in their subject, turning pupil inspiration and motivation into tangible results.

Garnett Excellence Award – presented by Tim Campbell, BBC’s The Apprentice winner, CEO of Bright Ideas Trust and Teach First Week Alumnus 2010.  The award is presented to Teach First participants who teach Science, Mathematics, Design and Technology or Information Communication Technology.  The award was sponsored by Dr Steve Garnett of salesforce.com.

***Ed Watson, Design & Technology teacher, Globe Academy Southwark, was the sole winner of the Garnett Excellence Award***

In terms of his nomination Emily Barney, Head of Design Technology at Globe Academy Southwark, wrote:
"Ed has made an excellent contribution to the department; pupils have made real progress in his classes where his teaching is consistently good with some outstanding features. His Year 11 project has been inspiring both in design terms and in how the pupils have responded to the challenge. He has organised and run an after-hours workshop with CIS for Year 9s. This has been a real learning opportunity that has been enjoyed by all who participated. He has been a real asset both in the department and around the school, always focussed, contributing and suggesting innovative ways forward, self-assured and positive during a time of change and rapid growth for the department and school.  I have really enjoyed working with him and am in no doubt that he will continue to grow into an outstanding teacher."

The judges commented on:

• Ed’s obvious care for and excellent rapport with the students
• His ability to enable the students to work independently
• His students clearly believe that he has an interest in them and that he takes the time to understand their motivation

The judging panel consisted of: Claire Molinario (Institution of Engineering & Technology), Guy Rimmer (Teach First alumni ’07), Kate Mara (Newman University College), Kate Mills (HSBC & Teach First alumnus ‘06), Susan Leighs (Canterbury Christ Church University) and Philip Kenley (salesforce.com).

Laura Howard Excellence Award – presented by Meryl Davies, Head Teacher of Cator Park School for Girls.  The award is presented to Teach First participants who teach Art, Business Studies, Citizenship, English, Geography, History, Music, Modern Foreign Languages or Religious Education (all non-STEM subjects).  The Award is named after Laura Howard who was an ’06 Ambassador and taught music at Cator Park School for Girls.

***Manjit More, History teacher at Pensnett High School, West Midlands, was the sole winner of the Laura Howard Excellence Award***

In terms of his nomination Sara Naguib, Leadership Development Officer at Teach First who oversees the development of participants on the Teach First programme, wrote:
“Manjit’s pupils clearly love their teacher. Their attendance to his lessons is good in comparison to other subjects and they regularly tell him (and anyone else that visits) how great he is. They have even set up a group on Facebook to celebrate their teacher. They often take advantage of his open classroom which they see as a safe space in which they will always work hard, have fun and be shown the uppermost respect.”

The judges commented on:

• His incredible passion for his subject which in turn has created a passion for his subject amongst students
• Success in a school which has been in the most challenging circumstances
• Incredibly creative and innovative teaching, receiving outstanding lessons consistently
• Whole-school impact

Ofsted said Manjit More was outstanding with no areas of improvement.

The judging panel consisted of Charlotte McCormick (Teach First Participant President and ’07 alumnus), Kate Butchart (Credit Suisse), Katy Miles (UBS) and Linda Varley (University of Manchester)

Primary Excellence Awards – presented by Irwin Lee, CEO of Procter & Gamble.  Teach First has just completed a two-year pilot focusing on primary with a modern foreign languages specialism.  The pilot was supported by Procter & Gamble and Teach First is planning to expand further into primary.

***Laura House, Year 3 teacher, St Mary Magdalene Academy, Islington was the sole winner of Primary Excellence Award***

In terms of her nomination, award judge Wendy Cobb wrote:
“Laura has been a leader in primary languages provision from the start, delivering outreach teaching in a local primary school from her first term and being recognised nationally for her work in integrating languages in the CLIL - National Statement and Guides launched in July 2009.  Laura continues to inspire and support other teachers, recently contributing to an LA language conference, and is always willing to share her ideas and resources.  She has supported her own staff with languages upskilling from early on in her first year and has organised a Teach First INSET to support languages development in summer 09.”

The judges commented on:

• Consistency of Laura’s performance from day one – she has high expectations of herself and pupils
• Resilient, collaborates constantly - shares lesson planning with teachers
• Great example of a modern foreign language primary specialist

The judging panel consisted of Emma Jenkins (Procter & Gamble), Pedram Parasmand (Teach First alumnus ’03) and Wendy Cobb (Canterbury Christ Church University)

LEARMONTH SUPPORTING PARTICIPANTS AWARD

Presented by Maggie Hughes Teach First Advisory Board and Charlotte McCormick, Participant President (’07).  Teach First participants are supported during their two years of the Teach First Leadership programme by a range of individuals.  This award recognises that the programme could not exist without the individuals who support Teach First participants.  Those who are eligible for this award include professional mentors, primary language specialist tutors, university tutors and coaches.

***Fiona Dyke, mentor, The Business Academy Bexley, was one of two winners for the Learmonth Supporting Participants Award***

In terms of her nomination, subject mentee, Astrid Fieldsend wrote:
“Fiona is an exemplary mentor; you would be hard pushed to find someone as good as her again.  Most of my colleagues have observed her and asked her advice: she is the go-to person.  She is also totally committed to her students – she once stayed until after six every night for two weeks to help her A2 sociology students before their exam. Fiona often mentions that I am the calmest participant she has ever met but this is down to knowing that I have a mentor who always knows what to do.  She is always extremely positive and full of praise which has made me feel confident in the classroom at only eight months into the programme.”

***Marie Campey, tutor, Nottingham Trent University, was one of two winners for the Learmonth Supporting Participants Award***

In terms of her nomination, Leadership Development Officer at Teach First Helen Rajan wrote:
“Marie is constantly on call to the participants she looks after. Many talk about how they’ve spoken to her for "an hour and a half on Sunday". She really goes above and beyond the call of duty. Participants I work with have said "I wouldn’t still be here without her". Marie had managed to develop such a strong, caring, pastoral and humorous persona when developing relationships with participants that they feel they can trust her and allow her to work with them to develop them into the most effective teachers possible.”

The judging panel consisted of David Cameron (University of Canterbury), Maggie Hughes (Teach First Advisory Board), Mark Smith (Teach First alumnus ’03) and Richard Watts (People Make It Work).

TEACH FIRST AMBASSADOR AWARDS (x3)

After successfully completing the initial two years on the Teach First programme the participants become Teach First ambassadors.  There are two ambassador awards, ‘Teach On’ and ‘Beyond the Classroom’ designed to reflect the ambassador movements’ aims of building a new generation of leaders committed to advancing education both inside and outside the classroom.

The awards panel for the following three awards consisted of Andy Buck (National College for Leadership of Schools and Children’s Services), Charlotte McCormick (Teach First Participant President and ’07 alumnus), Chris Pope (The Prince’s Teaching Institute), Nick Temple (School for Social Entrepreneurship) and Sarah Connor (Director of Ambassadors, Teach First).

1. Ambassador ‘Beyond the Classroom’ Award– presented by actor and BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing winner Tom Chambers and Actant CEO Peter Grant.This award recognises Teach First ambassadors who are not currently teaching but have been addressing educational disadvantage in other ways. The award is sponsored by Actant.

***Matthew Hood, Department for Education, was the sole winner of the Ambassador ‘Beyond the Classroom’ Award***

In terms of his nomination, Gayle Saundry, Teach First teacher, Clapton Girls, wrote:
“Personally Matt has been a great exemplar from day one of the values inspired by Teach First.  He has a genuine belief and enthusiasm for the cause, and is continually looking for new ways to become involved and further develop the Teach First experience; taking on roles such as Associate Tutor and leading the ATs this year.  Matt has shown his commitment and integrity through modeling the teaching strategies he taught to us, in the support he has provided to us as developing teachers and offering a great amount of support in addition to humour and a lot of patience! His role within the reforms shows his belief in a collaborative approach to delivering change to education; a recent example included Matt inviting the business participants to critique and offer feedback on the reform plans as a way to fuel his thinking as his role progressed.”

2. Ambassador ‘Teach On’ Award - presented by novelist Joanna Trollope OBE.  This award recognises Teach First ambassadors who have remained in teaching.

***Jay Allnutt, Religious Education, Philosophy and Critical Thinking teacher, Christ the King Sixth Form College in Lewisham was the sole winner of the Ambassador ‘Teach On’ Award***

In terms of his nomination, a parent of Jay’s pupils, wrote:

“Jay’s lessons are active and he has got my son and his fellow students, who were previously disengaged, really motivated about their subject of study and their future education.  I have seen such a change in my son in his attitude to work and he wants to achieve much more than he used to.”

3. HIGHER EDUCATION ACCESS PROGRAMME FOR SCHOOLS AWARD (HEAPS)
Presented by Alastair McLuckie, Black Rock and Laurell Milton, HEAPS alumnus.
The Higher Education Access Programme for Schools (HEAPS) Award is aimed at improving the progression of gifted pupils from schools facing challenging circumstances, who may not have normally considered the possibility, to the most competitive universities. The Award recognises Teach First ambassadors who have mentored their HEAPS pupils in an outstanding way. The
ambassadors were nominated and voted for by the pupils participating in the programme. This award is sponsored by Black Rock.

***Luke Ashman, PricewaterhouseCoopers, was the sole winner of the HIGHER EDUCATION ACCESS PROGRAMME FOR SCHOOLS (HEAPS) AWARD

In terms of his nomination, one of his mentee pupils wrote:

“I lost all hope, failing one of my maths modules with a grade D and Physics practical at grade D but he still believed in me. I was struggling financially and needed to buy an M1 book as an alternative because my school does not teach this maths module and surprisingly, he bought me this book along with its revision guides and also taught me how to maximise its use. He instilled confidence in me for my Physics practical that I needed at those moments.

This made a big difference to my grades as I was just a mark off an A in M1 and I magically now have a very strong A overall in maths with just C4 left to do. Now I’m also very glad to say both my AS and A2 Physics practicals are at a very strong A as well.
Now he’s reduced the burden on me for my final exam and also suggested easier ways of revising, which works a lot better.

Moreover, having only lived in England for a year at that stage, I have had difficulties communicating but through his good communication skills and patience, which I’ve learnt from, I’ve been able to be a leader. I’ve done this not just in my school but also in representing my school in the Cambridge shadowing scheme essay competition where I succeeded into the top ten in the UK.” 

FOUNDING AMBASSADOR AWARD
This award is to recognise the vital support provided by two founding ambassadors. 

George Iacobescu, chief executive of Canary Wharf Group

• Was the first financial supporter of Teach First. In 2002, Teach First’s founder Brett Wigdortz met with George who saw the value of the programme. He pledged the Canary Wharf Group as the organisation’s first founding sponsor.
• Between 2002 – 2006 he co-chaired Teach First with Stephen O’Brien
• Canary Wharf Group provided Teach First with its first home for almost 7 years pro bono from April 2003 until the organisation outgrew the space in March 2010.
• He also helped to get other Canary Wharf businesses to support the charity, including a £1 million grant from Credit Suisse and support from others including Citigroup, HSBC and Barclays Capital.

Ralph Tabberer,Chief of Schools, and COO GEMS – MENASAand former Director General of Schools at theDepartment Children, Schools and Families.

• Worked to open up teacher training routes in his role as CEO of the Teacher Training Agency, which became the Training & Development Agency for Schools
• Was always passionate about the idea that different sorts of people need a variety of training and that schools should look for a wide variety of teacher training routes
• Was supportive of Teach First and worked closely with the organisation’s founder, Brett Wigdortz, to help shape the business plan and strengthen the training element
• Worked with Teach First to build partnerships with training providers that proved crucial to the support of new teachers

Notes to editors

For media enquiries please contact Anie Keshishian, Press Officer, Teach First, 07786 038306 and email akeshishian@teachfirst.org.uk or Gemma McNeilis, 07989 392976 gmcneilis@teachfirst.org.uk

Teach First

Teach First's mission is to address educational disadvantage by transforming exceptional graduates into effective, inspirational teachers and leaders in all fields. Teach First targets graduates who would not normally consider a career in teaching and places them in challenging schools – where:

1. More than 50% of their pupils from deprived backgrounds according to the respected IDACI index of childhood deprivation, thereby more accurately prioritising those schools with higher levels of deprivation.
   
   And/or
   
   
2. Schools with the lowest levels of attainment in regards to the 5+ A*-C measure – i.e. schools whose results fall in the lowest third of the national distribution.

In 2009, Teach First placed close to 500 graduates in teaching positions, making it the 4th largest recruiter of graduates in the UK. The figure for participants joining in 2010 is 570 and 650 in 2011.

In 2009, Teach First gained 8th place on the coveted league of Times Top 100 Graduate Employers.

During Teach First Week personalities from the worlds of politics, education, business and sport return to the classroom to teach in Teach First schools with Teach First participants.  Guests swap the dispatch box, lecture theatre, training field or committee room to experience life as teachers in challenging urban schools.

For more information, visit www.teachfirst.org.uk.