The day, which has become known as Thank a Teacher Day, saw celebrations taking place in schools around England, Wales and Ireland.
Following thousands of nominations, the shortlisted 56 are the official silver winners in this year’s awards. They are nominated across 11 categories including Outstanding New Teacher of the Year, Headteacher of the Year in a Secondary School, Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School, Teaching Assistant of the Year, Excellence in Special Needs, and Outstanding Use of Technology among others.
All the 56 silver winners will be invited to the annual Teaching Awards Ceremony in London on October 22, where a winner in each category will be named, receiving the now famous Gold Plato award. The ceremony will be filmed and broadcast by the BBC.
Among the 56 is Maire Thompson, headteacher of Malone College in Belfast, who is nominated in the Headteacher of the Year in a Secondary School category.
She joined the school in 2000 before taking over as headteacher in 2014. She has been recognised not just for the school’s excellent results, but also for her dedication in reaching out to the community, including the local Roma population.
Meanwhile, finalists in the Teacher of a Year in a Secondary School category include Daniel Simpson, from the media department at St Matthew Academy in south London. He has been recognised for encouraging his students via competitions, parental engagement initiatives and the student magazine.
Another finalist in this category is Pauline Astle from The Streetly Academy in Sutton Colfield. Pauline has led the science department through some difficult times and has led a team which has achieved impressive GCSE results for the department and exceptional A level performance. She has also undertaken impressive work with the Researchers in Schools Programme, bringing in PhD graduates to train as teachers.
The Teaching Awards, which are supported by Pearson, have also announced that former children’s laureate Michael Morpurgo is to become the next president of the Teaching Awards Trust.
Mr Morpurgo said: “Becoming an inspirational teacher is a serious, admirable commitment. And memorable, outstanding teaching should be celebrated by educators, pupils, parents and throughout society. With these awards we’re taking the time to recognise the remarkable, often unappreciated efforts of fantastic teachers up and down the country.”
Rod Bristow, president of Pearson UK added: “Great teaching can have a huge impact on a child’s education so it’s vital for us to recognise and celebrate inspirational teachers, for their commitment to teaching and learning and for improving the life chances of the next generation.”
For full details of the categories and finalists in this year’s awards – and for details on how to nominate teachers for the 2018 awards – visit www.teachingawards.com