Mrs Raine Hart
Teaching Awards 2008 Winner
The TDA Award for Teaching Assistant of the Year in East Midlands
Glenbrook Primary and Foundation School, NOTTINGHAM
Raine Hart makes a huge contribution to making Glenbrook a fully inclusive school. She cares for pupils with profound physical and learning difficulties, working tirelessly to ensure they receive specialist help and are supported through every aspect of the learning process.
Raine has been responsible for the development of a girl in Year 2 who has cerebral palsy and profound deafness, but who is extremely able cognitively. When she arrived, the child refused to wear her splints, have her hair combed and was prone to tantrums. Thanks to Raine’s determination and fortitude, she is now described as a “delightful” child and a determined learner.
She also supports a boy who has Down syndrome, is profoundly deaf and visually impaired. His mother thought he would never be able to attend a mainstream school but thanks to specialist care from Raine, he has made outstanding progress.
Raine constantly demonstrates by her aspirations for children that anything is possible. She does not ask anyone to try anything she has not tried herself first, and has demonstrated amazing success in areas nobody would have believed possible. Raine supports colleagues as a mentor, and attends training courses so she can pass on her knowledge to others. She works closely with class teachers to plan and deliver the curriculum, and uses her initiative to plan and develop resources for the children. Raine is also able to take the class during teacher absence and continue to deliver the planned curriculum.
Raine works closely with families, and these partnerships help children make excellent progress. Parents recognise her as a skilled professional and trust her with their children. One parent, whose child is cared for by Raine, said: “Every last detail is thought of. My daughter is not made to feel the odd one out.”
One colleague said of her: “‘As the school moved to become a fully inclusive school Raine was the trail blazer. She had to make it work and she did.”
Judges described her as “the cornerstone of the school’s success as a fully inclusive mainstream school”.
