- David Duncan of Rossendale School in Lancashire to attend finals of the Pearson Teaching Awards
- His nomination follows the acceptance of a Silver Teaching Award earlier this year for his exceptional contribution to the teaching profession
Headteacher David Duncan will attend an awards ceremony at The East Wintergarden in London on Sunday where he will find out if he has won a prestigious “Gold Plato” Award.
David was nominated for the accolade by pupils, parents and colleagues in the Rossendale School community.
The ceremony, hosted by BBC Breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty with Countryfile's Sean Fletcher, will be broadcast on BBC2 on October 29 as “Britain’s Classroom Heroes”. The programme and award ceremony celebrates the very best of the UK’s teaching profession.
Eleven Gold Plato awards will be presented across categories such as Headteacher of the Year in a Secondary School, Excellence in Special Needs Education and Lifetime Achievement.
Mr Duncan said: “I feel genuinely humbled and honoured that some of our parents, who have the most difficult job, and some of my colleagues that I have the highest opinion of, have seen fit to nominate me for such a prestigious award.”
The awards organisers said Mr Duncan has been instrumental in providing opportunity for pupils who’d previously been failed by the education system to achieve an enviable portfolio of GCSEs and other exam results. David began teaching in 1968, founded Rossendale School in May 1989 and has had almost 500 pupils through the doors since that time.
Ten years ago the school received its first ‘outstanding’ award from Ofsted after a welfare inspection. Since then another 10 inspections (Welfare and Education) have been ‘Outstanding’. Their educational achievements continue to grow.
In June, David was recognised for his exceptional contribution to the teaching profession as one of just 56 Silver Teaching Award winners in the UK, winning his award in the category The Award for Lifetime Achievement.
The Pearson Teaching Awards is an annual celebration of exceptional teachers and teaching. Founded in 1998 by Lord Puttnam, they recognise the life-changing impact of an inspirational teacher on the lives of the young people they teach.
Michael Morpurgo, Children’s Author and President of the Pearson’s Teaching Awards said: “Teachers are the quiet heroes. By telling their stories, by highlighting their skill and dedication, we can do some justice to them and to the whole profession.”
Rod Bristow, President of Pearson UK, said: "Great teaching improves the life chances of our children. It's an incredibly tough, pressured and wearing job. Teachers deserve all the support we can give them, now more than ever. That's why these Pearson teaching awards are important, and that's why I'm delighted once again to lend our support to giving teaching the recognition it deserves."
Parents and students alike can recognise and thank the teachers who are making a difference by visiting http://teachingawards.com/thank-a-teacher to thank a teacher
Doing so means they will be in with a chance of winning at next year’s ceremony.
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