Mr. Amer Sheikh
Teaching Awards 2008 Winner
The Teaching Award for Enterprise in North East and Cumbria
Thornhill School Business & Enterprise College, SUNDERLAND
Not many teachers are nationally-known rap stars, but Amer Sheikh’s anti-racist rap group of pupils, ‘The Word’ has played to over 40 000 young people in the last three years at venues ranging from Lords Cricket Ground to the The Sage, in Gateshead. It has been invited to write the theme song for a national young achiever awards show and to appear at the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust National Conference.
This energetic chemistry teacher believes in using music, video and dance to convey the message of respect for differences in race and culture. The Word was started by Amer, and now involves more than a hundred pupils. It is self-financing and he has worked with curriculum experts to develop a DVD-based toolkit of lessons using the group’s work to address themes of anti-racism and diversity. The group, under Amer, also produces mementoes and souvenirs to raise funds and Amer has also persuaded public and private sector organisations to back it with more than £25 000 in direct sponsorship.
Pupils involved with it have learned creative and technical skills, and gained the confidence to set personal goals and work towards them.
Amer is a highly-respected specialist teacher who also works with primary and sixth form colleagues to encourage students’ interest in science. They describe his lessons as fun, memorable and challenging, and many of them continue on to study the sciences at A level.
Amer is often the first to arrive at school and the last to leave. He is driven by the desire to see his family grow up in a stronger and more cohesive community. His school is in an area of deprivation and some racial tension, but colleagues say The Word is helping to break down barriers.
Assistant head Mark Price says, “he is a man with enough passion to inspire you to think about your own life.”
