The Unsung Hero Award is a brand new Award for 2022, open to all staff working in schools.
The aim of this award category is to honour the everyday heroes working in our schools and colleges across the UK and ensure they know just how appreciated they are! Anyone can enter, and anyone can be nominated – from support staff including caretakers, playground helpers, school office staff through to head teachers and teachers.
And if you’re looking for inspiration – here are a couple of lovely examples of a nominations we received recently:
“Thank you Mrs W for being the best dinner lady ever. You are always there for us if we are sad or hurt. You cut up our food and make sure we are ok. We love you.”
“Where do I start, nothing is too much for her, she is so caring to the children, they love her, the parents love her, she sorts everything out for parents and the children. You can ask her anything and she knows the answer and goes to great lengths to sort any problems out, she is such a smiley happy person and is a breath of fresh air when you go to the office, she puts everyone at ease”
The Unsung Hero is the only category open to nominations from parents/carers and pupils, so if you know an amazing member of school staff or school/college team, nominate them now!
This is the Award for those who deserve praise and aren’t always recognised- the people preparing the food at school, driving the school bus, providing pastoral support, taking over during lunch breaks.
Here is another nomination we recently received:
“Dear Mrs E. I know you probably have the worst job of all, as Attendance officer at our College but, over the years, since George has been at the school, you’ve always gone above and beyond your duty in this role. If I’ve had an issue and not been able to speak to an appropriate member of staff, you’ve always been that person at the end of the phone that I feel confident in contacting in, despite it not being part of your remit. In the current climate, your job must be one of the busiest ones at the College, with little reward at the end of it. I hope this small Thank You message conveys how grateful I am that you’re at my son’s school.”
There isn’t a typical Unsung Hero nomination – we expect a wide and diverse range of entries, which we know will make it extra tricky for our judges to decide who should be awarded Bronze, Silver and ultimately Gold Awards. But we know the judges love reading every single entry, and this year we are particularly excited to welcome Alex Jones – presenter of BBC’s One Show and Sharon Hague – Managing Director, Pearson School Qualifications, onto our judging panel for this special Award.
And even though the judges will have a hard time picking a winner, we know that it means so much to every single nominee just to be put forward for this award, entering someone for an Unsung Hero Award is about showing them their hard work and care is recognised, and it is appreciated.
So what are you waiting for, if you are considering entering someone for the Unsung Hero award, you still have time. Go to our website to fill out an application for free: https://www.teachingawards.com/2022awards/
You can also watch our webinar to learn more about the awards: https://www.teachingawards.com/awards-entry-webinar-2/
