St Hilda’s Teacher Gains Silver Award for Teacher of the Year in a Primary School

Selected from thousands of nominations, Beth Raggett, our Year One teacher at St Hilda’s Primary School, is one of just 76 Silver Award winners across the country. Beth was honoured with a Silver Award in The Award for Teacher of the Year in a Primary School for her outstanding commitment to changing the lives of the children she works with every day.

Beth is adored by her pupils, their families, and her fellow staff members for her passion, commitment and warmth towards them all. She inspires a love of learning in her pupils which leads to them excelling academically, while always feeling valued as individuals. She tailors her lessons to meet every pupil’s needs, while ensuring that all can benefit.

Beth is now in the running for one of just 14 Gold Awards later in the year, in a programme which will be broadcast on the BBC. This is a great opportunity to celebrate the exceptional school staff who have worked wonders during an incredibly challenging time for educators across the country.

The Pearson National Teaching Awards is an annual celebration of exceptional teachers, founded in 1998 by Lord Puttnam to recognise the life-changing impact an inspirational teacher can have on the lives of the young people they work with. This year marks its 22nd year of celebrating, award-winning teachers, teaching assistants, headteachers and lecturers across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

Michael Morpurgo, celebrated author and former Children’s Laureate, and President of the Teaching Awards Trust, said:

“Over the past year, we have, all of us, come to appreciate and respect the value of teachers. They have so often been taken for granted. Not any more. Parents know now what it takes to teach, and teach well, and how much commitment, dedication and enthusiasm and knowledge and understanding, yes – and patience.

“Children know it too, if they didn’t before. So many missed their teachers as well as their friends. We all honour them today. Let’s now praise them, wish them well and above all, thank them.”

Victoria Short, Managing Director, Randstad Education, said:

“Congratulations to Beth Raggett for this achievement, which is a well deserved recognition of their fantastic work in ensuring children get the best start to their education possible. They truly are a credit to their school and their profession, and I hope they are very proud of their success today.  At Randstad, we are so pleased to support these Awards and to thank the incredible teachers who have given so much to support their pupils, particularly in these most challenging of times – with lessons moving online and teachers needing to adapt to keep our pupils learning, all award nominees and winners are all the more deserving of the recognition.”

The Pearson National Teaching Awards are open to every school in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The awards were established by Lord Puttnam CBE in 1998 and are managed by the Teaching Awards Trust, an independent charity. The vision of the charity is to recognise and celebrate excellence in education. It does this through its public-facing ‘Thank A Teacher’ campaign, and through the Pearson National Teaching Awards www.teachingawards.com.

The 2020 Pearson National Teaching Award Categories are: