An Indian adventure
Geraldine Hutchinson, Tabitha Sawyer, Mary O'Kane and Dai Jones with students from Abhyasa Residential Public school, outside Hyderabad
Three Teaching Award winners have recently returned from a two-week study tour to Hyderabad, in south India, one of a series organised by the Centre for British Teachers (CfBT) - which aims to promote international links between schools and share best practice.
Accompanied by Dr Geraldine Hutchinson, assistant director of CfBT in the UK and writer Wendy Wallace, our winners ran a well-received series of workshops on effective schools, creative teaching, eco-friendly schools and nutrition.
The teachers represented a range of UK schools. Dai Jones, Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School in 2006, is a history teacher at Villiers High School, a large comprehensive in Southall, west London where 80 per cent of pupil come from the Indian sub-continent.
Tabitha Sawyer, who won the TDA Award for Outstanding New Teacher of the Year in 2006, is a primary teacher at Ysgol Emmanuel in Rhyl, north Wales and is known for having sailed round the world with her family before settling down to teach.
Mary O'Kane, whose school won the Healthy School award in 2006, is head teacher at St Brigid's, a small rural primary in County Derry, Northern Ireland which had success again in this year's Teaching Awards.
The team was hosted by CfBT's Hyderabad office visiting a range of provision, from private day nurseries that are springing up in hi-tech Hyderabad to mid-range private schools such as the 995-pupil Vasavi Public School, and Vivekananda, a small school for children from the slums.
Vivekananda students put on enthusiastic displays of Indian costume and dance. 'It's humbling,' said Mary O'Kane. 'We complain about not having enough space and here they're teaching in corridors'.
Despite eye-catching differences – few British teachers arrive for work with fresh jasmine in their hair, or deal with classes of 60 – the team found many common threads. 'We met powerfully inspiring people,' said history teacher Dai Jones. The links look set to continue.
