Two Silver Pearson Teaching Awards for Weston College

Selected from thousands of nominations, Weston College’s Charmaine Hale-Lynch and the Welfare and Pastoral Support Services Team are two 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.  Celebrations will take place in schools and colleges across England, Wales and Northern Ireland as the prestigious Silver Pearson Teaching Awards trophies are presented to outstanding teachers, teaching assistants, head teachers and lecturers.

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.

Charmaine and the Welfare and Pastoral Support Services Team 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”.

Charmaine Hale-Lynch, winner of the Silver ‘FE Lecturer of the Year’ Teaching Award said: “I feel very honoured to receive such an award and overwhelmed by the support from the staff and everyone who took part in the process and helped in this achievement”. 

Also collecting their award for Silver ‘FE Team of the Year’ Teaching Award, Benjamin Cocks and Mandy Lee of the Student Welfare and Pastoral Support Services Team said this of their award: “We’re incredibly proud to receive this award which recognises the hard work and dedication of our team. We’re extremely grateful to have such wonderful learners, who provide the inspiration for everything that we do”. 

Dr Paul Phillips CBE, Weston College Principal and Chief Executive of the Weston College Group, has commended the consistently high standard of teaching and support staff at Weston College.

He said: “This award shows Weston College staff always go above and beyond for the wellbeing of our learners. They work incredibly hard to support every learner across the College and make sure they are achieving the very best they can. 

“We are proud to be one of the top performing colleges in the country, and our continued successes are a promise that all existing and future learners will get the very best standard of education at Weston College.”

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.   

On this special, celebratory day, the Teaching Awards is encouraging members of the public to say “thank you” to a teacher who has made a difference in their lives.  Simply go to http://www.teachingawards.com/card, fill in a form online including a personal message and the teacher will receive a Thank You card in the post for free. 

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 on the Teaching Awards website at 5pm on Friday 22nd June.