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NEWS
Big thank you to our judges

The task of Teaching Awards judges begins in earnest this month with nominations up by 25% and now closed at a record level of 8,409. The deadline for endorsements is upon us - 8 March.
In our tenth anniversary year, Lord Puttnam's founding vision to create awards that are 'by the profession, for the profession' is closer to being fulfilled.
 
Around two-thirds of all 417 judges nationwide have experienced the thrill of winning at a Teaching Awards ceremony and appreciate the value that a nomination, and ultimately a plato, can bring to a school.
 
Thirteen judging panels, each with around 30 members, met recently to confirm their teams and categories. This year 59 winners have become judges for the first time and will give as much as seven and a half days to the process, including visits to schools.
 

London judges, Marva Rollins with 2007 Teaching Award winner Despina Panayi and 2003 national winner Nina Panayis
     
'Our judges are the touchstone of the Teaching Awards,' says chief executive Caroline Evans. 'They give professional credibility to all stages of the process and we are hugely grateful to them.'
Summer ceremonies are the place to be

All local level judging will be complete by 1 May and dates are already set for the 2008 Teaching Awards summer ceremonies at 13 venues around Britain.

Children from St Brigids Primary School in Northern Ireland at the 2007 Belfast ceremony
 
Around 430 finalists from 11 English regions, Wales and Northern Ireland, will be invited to leave their classrooms for a day to be thanked, entertained and rewarded at each location. Guests, including colleagues, pupils, judges and sponsors will swell the total number attending to around 3500.
 
Four out of 13 events will be held in prestigious places that are new to the Teaching Awards' UK tour. They are: The Sage, Gateshead, the Cutlers' Hall, Sheffield, the Riviera Centre, Torquay, and the Arena and Convention centre in Liverpool, this year's European capital of culture. Each is hosted by a BBC news presenter.
Region Date Venue
South East Tuesday 10 June Canterbury Cathedral
South Wednesday 11 June Winchester Guildhall
East Thursday 12 June De Vere Dunston Hall, Norwich
Northern Ireland Monday 16 June Belfast Waterfront Hall
North East and Cumbria Wednesday 18 June The Sage, Gateshead
North West Thursday 19 June ACC Liverpool
North Friday 20 June Cutlers' Hall, Sheffield
East Midlands Monday 23 June EMCC, Nottingham
West Tuesday 24 June The Assembly rooms, Bath
South West Wednesday 25 June Riviera International Conference Centre, Torquay
Wales Thursday 26 June Cardiff City Hall
West Midlands Friday 27 June Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon, Warwickshire
London Tuesday 1 July Café Royal
Teachers' champion Ted Wragg remembered
  Professor Ted Wragg, the noted educationist who helped Lord Puttnam found the Teaching Awards, was remembered this week at the Sheffield schools where he was once a pupil.  
  Ted, who was chair of the national judges until his sudden death in November 2006, was a pupil in the 1940s and '50s at Hunter's Bar infant and junior schools and at King Edward VII School, before gaining a double first in languages at Durham University and training to be a teacher.  
 
Both school sites were visited by Judith Wragg, Ted's widow, Fred Jarvis, a close friend and former general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, and Sophie Byatt, managing director of the Teaching Awards. They presented a framed photograph from the Ted Wragg Memorial Fund and talked to pupils.
 
At Hunter's Bar they also met class teacher Shirley Harrison, who won the 2007 BT Award for Teacher of the Year in a Primary School.
 

Judith Wragg with children from Hunter's Bar
 
  'Ted's experience at Hunter's Bar always stayed with him because, aged 10, he was taught by a truly inspirational teacher,' said Judith. 'He became a man who fought for teachers and who knew their worth. Ted was their champion.'  
  Lord Puttnam, founder of the Teaching Awards said: 'If Ted Wragg had not been a supporter of the Teaching Awards from the outset, life would have been very, very different for us. Ted's heart was in the right place – it was like a magnet that always takes you back to true north.'  
WINNERS’ UPDATE
Bring Back the Nature Table
  Teaching Award winner Anne Paterson is supporting a new campaign that aims to help children rediscover the great outdoors and stop them losing touch with the countryside.  
     
 
 
Anne, winner in Scotland of the 2006 Headteacher of the Year in a Primary School, is an adviser in Argyle and Bute and until recently head of Inverary primary school. She is quoted in this month's Country Living magazine in support of a new environmental campaign called 'Bring Back the NatureTable'.
 
For Country Living the nature table is a timely reminder of times when taking pussy willow and catkins to school was what children did every Springtime – and that without the chance to walk in woods, parks and fields, such habits and knowledge will be lost.
 
The world outside the classroom is a huge resource just waiting to be tapped into', says Anne, a fan of outdoor learning and an expert in environmental maths.
 
 
Living on the banks of Loch Fynne and running a sheep farm with her husband,  Anne is passionate about developing school grounds and children's knowledge of the countryside. Bringing the natural world into the classroom is second nature to her.
 
The campaign, which is supported by the Field Studies Council, is holding a competition for Best School Nature Table (open to all UK primary schools) with the chance to win a £500 mini-microscope. For details see this month's issue of Country Living or go to www.countryliving.co.uk/naturetable
 
 

Teaching Award winner Anne Paterson
 
Heads in their Flying Machines!

Every regional winner of the Royal Air Force Award for Headteacher of the Year in a Secondary School gets the chance to sit in a pilot's seat and fly with a 'flight tutor'. From the ground, their pupils can only stand and watch, awestruck!

Last term Dai Meredith, head of Perryfields High School in Sandwell, took a party of 15 students to Cosford, the Defence College of Aeronautical Engineering near Wolverhampton. His flight was supervised by the University of Birmingham Air Squadron.
 

'The flight prize was an exhilarating experience and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience,' he says. 'The hospitality for my staff and students was first class and it was certainly a day to remember.'
 

Winning Head David Meredith prepares to take off
OPPORTUNITIES
Who's your Ethical Hero?
The Observer Ethical Awards 2008 in association with Ecover aim to reward people who make ethical living accessible and aspirational.
 
Do you know any young activists or youth groups doing great work to promote ethical living or increase ethical awareness? If so, put them forward for the Ecover Ethical Kids Award and they could win £2000 a year for three years to go towards their work.
You can also nominate a worthy candidate for the Jupiter Big Idea Award, the Ethical Business Award or the Conservation Project of the Year or vote for your favourite fashion product, retailer, campaigner or politician.
To register your vote, visit www.observer.co.uk/ethicalawards Voting closes on 14 March.
As an added incentive to do the right thing, one lucky voter will win a luxury short break by rail to Paris, and 10 runners-up will win a hamper from Aveda.
Online learning about leadership and management
 
NCSL's Leadership Library is a unique, free, online resource bringing together some of the best leadership and management thinking in the world.
 
This new library of material involves the most renowned leaders, most successful organisations and biggest names in research, including Harvard Business School and Ashridge Business School.
 
It provides all the information and inspiration you need to do your job more effectively, to become a better leader of the school you know it can be. To find out more or to register visit: www.ncsl.org.uk/leadershiplibrary
 

EDUCATIONAL EVENTS
Date Event Information
14 March Religious Education in Secondary Schools, Guardian Newsroom, London, 9.45–12.45pm

Hosted by the Teaching Awards, this is the third seminar held at the Guardian Newsroom and is an opportunity to share winners' experiences and ideas on the subject of RE. Speakers include: Helen Cairns, Ian Jamison and Samantha Hunt.

For tickets and further information please contact Poppy O'Shaugnhessy on 0207 776 2343 or email poppyo@teachingawards.com

14–16 March Sport Relief

Sport Relief is part of Comic Relief, a fundraising initiative that helps vulnerable people in the UK and in the world's poorest countries. Schools' participation is crucial to its success.

Sport Relief 2008 kicks off on Friday 14 March and is encouraging all pupils to meet a sporting challenge – such as running the Sport Relief Mile in PE lessons or taking part in a playground 'keepy uppie' competition. Ideas for the under-sevens are also available. For further information on how to get involved click here.
20 March World Storytelling Day

Aims to get people telling and listening to stories worldwide, in as many languages and locations as possible, during a single 24-hour period.
Click here for further information and resources.
25 March Staffroom Monologues Competition

Deadline for Teachers TV's scriptwriting competition in association with the National Union of Teachers to find budding talent in the nation's staffrooms. Ashley Pharoah, co-creator of BBC's 'Ashes to Ashes', has joined the judging team. Click here for details.
 
To share your news and updates in the Teaching Awards E-Brief, please call
Sarah Bayliss on 020 7736 2340 or email sarahb@teachingawards.com

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