Jan Wilson a teacher at The Mount Junior School has been honoured in national celebration of teaching as the 2018 Pearson Teaching Award Winners are announced.
We are delighted to announce Jan Wilson has won a Silver Teacher Award in the category, ‘The Award for Teacher of the Year in a Primary School’ from The Pearson Teaching Awards.
Jan was surprised with the news this morning during a ‘Thank the Teacher’ assembly in the Junior School. A representative from Pearson attended the assembly to hand Jan her silver award. The astonishment from Jan and the pupils’ joyful cheers was fantastic to witness and demonstrated how deserved this award is. Jan’s reaction has been caught on camera and will be available to view here later today.
Selected from thousands of nominations, Jan is one of just 65 winners who will be celebrated today on 22nd June – ‘Thank A Teacher Day’, as the national Teaching Awards marks its 20th year of celebrating excellence in education. The prestigious Silver Pearson Teaching Awards trophies are presented to outstanding teachers, teaching assistants, headteachers and lecturers.
After the surprise Jan commented, “It goes without saying that it is an honour to win this award and a very humbling experience. I was certainly surprised! The thrilled cheers from the children as the news sunk in was just fantastic. Throughout my career, I have had the privilege of working with supportive colleagues who seek to nurture in our pupils that greatest and most powerful of things: an enthusiastic child with an enquiring mind. I have been extremely fortunate to work with some of the most of the most fantastic enquiring young minds over my career at The Mount School, who continue to inspire me each and every day.”
Adrienne Richmond, Principal of The Mount School York adds, “I am delighted for Jan. To be selected from the thousands of teachers to win a silver award is an achievement that is thoroughly deserved. Jan inspires children, parents and colleagues with her passion and dedication for educating young children. She is a creative person who works tirelessly to provide children with opportunities and experiences in the classroom and beyond. Her energy is boundless and her personality infectious.”
The Pearson Teaching Awards are an annual celebration of exceptional teachers, founded in 1998 by Lord Puttnam to recognise the life-changing impact an inspirational teacher can have on the lives of the young people they teach.
Jan will now join fellow Silver Award winners, along with 3 Scottish Education Award winners and 3 winners of the Professional Teaching Awards Cymru, at the 20th UK Ceremony of the Pearson Teaching Awards, a glittering ceremony held in central London on 21st October. There they will find out which of them has won one of just 12 Gold Plato Awards, the UK’s “Oscars for Teachers”.
The October ceremony, titled “Britain’s Classroom Heroes”, will be filmed and broadcast by the BBC as a showcase of excellence in education. Previous award presenters have included former prime ministers David Cameron and Tony Blair, acting legends Jenny Agutter, Alison Steadman and Sheila Hancock and sports and TV personalities including Shirley Ballas, Helen Glover, Brendan Cole and Nadiya Hussain.
Michael Morpurgo, celebrated author and former Children’s laureate, and President of the Teaching Awards Trust, said: “The best we can do is to pass on to children all that we know and love and mean every word. I think above all else, a teacher should be a friend, and that’s not an easy thing to do when there are 35 children out there. With these awards we are shining a light on these inspirational individuals whose efforts and commitment so often go uncelebrated.”
Rod Bristow, President of Pearson UK, said: “A huge congratulations to all those receiving a silver trophy today. They should feel extremely proud of their achievements and join an inspirational group of Teaching Award winners from the past two decades. It’s an honour for Pearson to support these Awards each year – it’s so vital to recognise and celebrate those in the teaching profession, for their commitment to education and for the impact they have on young people’s lives.“
The list of winners will be published at 5pm on Friday 22nd June.
More photos and videos of the surprise to follow . . . .
