Students and staff at Queen Katharine Academy are celebrating after being presented with a Gold Pearson National Teaching Award in the ‘Award for Impact through Partnership’ category.
The Pearson National Teaching Awards are known as the 'Oscars' of the teaching profession. The annual awards ceremony was established in 1998 by Lord David Puttnam CBE, to recognise and celebrate excellence in education. Queen Katharine Academy, which is part of Thomas Deacon Education Trust (TDET), was awarded the Gold Award at a ceremony in London for its ‘Roma - Narrowing the Gap’ team in school.
The school has a strong ethos of community and collaboration and has worked hard to understand and support its own Gypsy-Roma community, as well as working with other organisations locally, nationally and internationally to share good practice and raise awareness.
The team also founded a regional English as an Additional Language (EAL) hub to share best practice and provide regular training to support Roma education.
Lynn Mayes, Principal of Queen Katharine Academy, said: “We were honoured to receive a Gold award in the Pearson National Teaching Awards for our work to support our Roma students and their community.
“The award reflects the inspirational work all our staff does to raise levels of education and attainment for all our children, regardless of their starting points. They do an incredible job of hosting, and providing training for, informative workshops for education, healthcare and community organisations, and raising aspirations for young Roma individuals in our community.
“The award is testament to the hard work of all the team at Queen Katharine Academy and
our work to really transform lives as an inclusive centre of educational excellence.”
Mick Gernon, Chief Executive of TDET, said: “We are absolutely delighted that Queen Katherine Academy has been recognised at the very highest level in the National Teaching Awards.
“The work that the Academy has undertaken with Roma students is genuinely ground-breaking and has made such a difference to all the students who have embarked on the programme. TDET is immensely proud of all that has been achieved - highly effective leadership and delivery with superb impact.”
The team at Queen Katharine Academy was presented with a Gold Teaching Award trophy by a Pearson National Teaching Awards representative on Sunday 28 November at an awards ceremony in London.
For information about Queen Katharine Academy, please visit: www.qka.education.