SEND practitioners change lives and empower young people.
Teachers working with children with special educational needs have a huge impact that goes above and beyond the classroom; they are changing lives, empowering children and young people they work with, and incorporating their local community and families too. These unique and committed individuals are raising the aspirations for young people with SEND; they personalise, effectively promote and embed inclusive practices that best prepare those they work with for adulthood and making a success of their future lives.
Tell us how your colleague has ensured that the children and young people in their care are able to achieve aspirational goals, allowing them to be contributing members of society.
We recommend you write around 1000 words ensuring you address the key points shown below.
Deadline for all entries is midnight, February 24th 2023.The 2023 Awards are now closed. Please register your interest for the 2024 Awards here.
Who can enter?
This category is open to all teaching staff working in special and additional needs environments teaching children aged 11-18 and who hold QTS. We welcome entries from state and independent schools in England, Scotland, Wales amd Northern Ireland.
Key points to consider
To maximise your nominee’s chances of success. we recommend you address the points below when writing your entry.
- Learning environment: The ways in which your nominee creates a learning environment, which is not only calm and safe but also inspires a love of learning. How are they able to foster their students’ enthusiasm to achieve their full potential both academically and holistically – developing a range of skills and qualities to help them be ambitious and optimistic about life?
- Students’ progress: What are the skills, characteristics and methods your colleague utilises, making them an exceptional classroom practitioner, who inspires and motivates every child they support so they make impressive progress? Attainment data varies widely across different settings so we would like to see how you interpret the incredible impact that your nominee has on their students’ progress. (This doesn’t need to be excessive and any recognition from external agencies can also be reported, although our judges will also review these should your nominee be shortlisted).
- Continuous development: All educators support students with SEND. How does your nominee ensure that they are committed to their own professional development in order to stay up to date with the latest changes to the Special Educational Needs arena? We’d love to read about some examples of how they have developed their own skills and understanding, sharing best practice with colleagues.
- Impact beyond the classroom: The ways in which your colleague ensures children in their class are learning to be good citizens and can show how their actions make a difference. On a wider level how they enrich the life of the school community, engaging other professionals to address the students’ needs. Tell us why all stakeholders believe that your nominee is one of the best SEND practitioners in the country.
- Impact beyond the school: How your nominee has had a wider impact across the SEND sector. Have they engaged peers in mainstream settings locally or nationally to help them improve the life chances of their SEND students? We are also keen to learn how they are able to establish effective relationships with their colleagues, students and other stakeholders, and what the impact of those relationships is.
2023 Pearson National Teaching Awards entry form
Note: Please read the 'Points to cover' prior to making your entry.
