Teaching is a tough job, particularly in this day and age. There is a lot of pressure and demands on teachers and it’s not a profession you join unless you really want to make an impact on the lives of the kids you are going to be teaching. I personally have friends and family who are teachers and think they do an amazing job, and they work very hard, and put a lot into what they do and care about the children who come into their classrooms.
I think it’s important to recognize how hard teachers work and what they do for our children, and sometimes that needs to be recognized and shared beyond just the day to day of in school.
We are very lucky that our local school that my children attend has some very experienced and lovely teachers. We were asked if we would like to nominate a teacher to say thank you to, for what they do, and my daughter has chosen her Year 6 teacher and between us we want to say thank you.
Our year 6 teacher, has been teaching that particular year for a few years. She has over twenty years experience of teaching and uses this to really make an impact on the children in her care in that year. Year 6 is a big jump at the end of primary school, when children are preparing to go out into the world of secondary school, and the changes and demands they face are quite different from what they are used to. Our Year 6 teacher, before we got to know her seemed a bit scary, because she is known for her high standards and the expectations she puts on the children and their parents in her class and it almost felt a bit like I was going back to school too. But she really does do an good job of taking year 5 children who are starting to grow up a bit and make them ready to face year 6 and beyond into life at secondary school. I have heard many stories of how above and beyond she goes for children to make their last year of Primary school successful, and I know that she puts a lot of personal effort into what she does. It’s widely known that she is firm and doesn’t take any nonsense but that if you need help or support she will be there to give it to you. She sets a high standard that inspires the children to work harder and to meet those standards. My daughter holds an incredibly high opinion of her and this has made her make more effort in certain areas and also helps her to focus and start working towards leaving primary school and learning to cope with the idea of secondary school (her mum isn’t quite ready to face this yet, but she is working on it!) We often use joke that we wish her teacher could come and live with us, because she certainly motivates and inspires our tweenager in a way that is a pleasure to watch and we have seen her confidence grow over the past few months after a tough time recently. I have met many teachers in my years, both as a parent and working with families and when you meet someone who genuinely cares about teaching and puts their all into it, and you can see how much they put into their job it makes you want to share about that and say thank you. Emily adores her teacher and wants to thank her for her hard work.
We will be nominating our teacher for the Pearson Teacher Awards next year.
The Pearson Teaching Awards celebrate and recognise excellence in education, honouring outstanding teachers and highlighting just how vital success in education is to the UK.
The Pearson Teaching Awards celebrate and recognise excellence in education, honouring outstanding teachers and highlighting just how vital success in education is to the UK.
The awards process starts with the ‘Thank a Teacher’ campaign which encourages children, students, parents, grandparents and colleagues to ‘thank a teacher’ who has helped them and made a difference in their life. A thank you card is sent free to each thanked teacher with a personalised message of thanks.
All ‘thank you’ nominations are then sent to the teacher’s headteacher, deputy or principal, who can enter that teacher for the Pearson Teaching Awards. Categories range from ‘Head Teacher of the Year in a Primary School’, ‘Head Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School’, ‘School Team of the Year’, ‘Outstanding Use of Technology in Education’ and the prestigious ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’. These entries are then shortlisted, and shortlisted teachers are visited by a team of judges who choose the Silver winners.
The Silver winners are announced on ‘Thank a Teacher’ day in June. Of these there is then a Gold Winner for each category. The Gold Winners are then announced at the grand finale Awards Ceremony, which this year will be held in London on Sunday 22nd October. The ceremony is broadcast the following Sunday on BBC2 as ‘Britain’s Classroom Heroes’.
This is something we want to get behind and support. Teaching is such an important job and making people aware of how hard our teachers work is something we really feel passionate about.
You can watch this year’s award ceremony, Britain’s Classroom Heroes on Sunday night at 6pm on BBC 2 to see which teachers have been nominated and awarded for their outstanding contribution towards teaching and education.
We will be tuning in to watch and we will also be sending a Thank You to our teacher, to make sure she knows how much we appreciate her hard work and effort. It’s easy to thank a teacher that has had a positive impact in your child’s life and is a fantastic way of showing your appreciation. If you have a teacher you want to thank, why not start the process and let them know?
