Three major prizes have gone to teachers and schools in London at the Tes Schools Awards, one of the biggest nights in the UK education calendar which was held on Friday 17th June.
· Arthur Barzey from Heron Hall Academy in Enfield won Headteacher of the Year.
· St Dunstan’s College in Catford won the Independent Senior School of the Year award.
· Helen Devereux Murray from Eastbury Community School in Barking won the Subject Lead of the Year (Specialist Provision) award.
Arthur Barzey exchanged a stethoscope and a highly promising career in medicine to become the inspirational leader of a new school, Heron Hall Academy, that in four years has arisen physically at the heart of the Ponders End community in London and also risen symbolically as a place of hope, enabling young people to follow their dreams to wherever their talents can take them.
Born and raised in Sierra Leone, Arthur knows about the importance of education. He has a laser-like focus on developing character and self-belief, as well as embedding pastoral care into the DNA of the school. He has developed a careers programme in partnership with the Enfield Caribbean Association who organise an annual careers fair with BAME role models, from the Royal Air Force to neurosurgeons. External speakers have included a High Court judge and one of the world’s top speechwriters.
Judge Julie Robson said: “Arthur comes across as outstandingly inspiring. He focuses on pride and aspiration in a disadvantaged multicultural community, and is all about aspiration and inclusion. He has a huge personal impact and stands out as a great leader.”
Arthur Barzey from Heron Hall Academy in Enfield said:
“This will mean a tremendous amount to the school. The whole team puts itself above the call of duty and we are a real family. This award is for that family.”
St Dunstan’s College’s Forder programme sees a weekly schedule of 150 activities embedded into the timetable and structured around the values of courage, creativity, confidence, compassion and curiosity. The Usherwood programme, underpinned by the Centre of Wellbeing, is designed to ensure a proactive approach to pupil ownership of mental and physical wellbeing through imaginative programmes in nutrition, sexual health and mindfulness. The Hecker curriculum offers 17 subjects running throughout the lower school and allowing for curiosity of mind to be developed in its fullest. The Stuart additional curriculum, a taught programme designed by the school, helps young people to acquire vital life skills, the power of rhetoric and critical thinking, equipping children with the confidence to embrace challenges with the toolkit necessary to thrive.
Judge David James said: “There’s a very clear and coherent vision of what they want to do, both with the curriculum and the local community. The head is asking interesting questions of the sector, including areas like privilege and responsibility, which go beyond the usual platitudes. It’s a really interesting school in a tough market, trying to not just survive but actually make something different for the children and families they’re working with.”
Danny Gower, assistant headteacher of St Dunstan’s College in Catford said:
“This award is a fantastic credit to the entire staff, students and our wider community. My advice to aspiring teachers is to spend as much time as you possibly can in front of students.”
Helen Devereux Murray works tirelessly doing everything she can to promote the needs and rights of students whether at class, school or national level. Her work within school demonstrates her outstanding teaching and the accelerated progress her students make, sometimes from well behind their peers.
She says she is immensely proud of how the Additional Resource Provision (ARP) family pulled together at Eastbury Community School throughout the pandemic and says she has been privileged to work within such a dynamic and resilient team who encourage her to always strive to be the best and break down barriers.
Judge Simon Knight said: “She stood out not just for the impact on learning, but the richness of experience that she’s been able to provide. Daily access to and participation in the creative arts in the pandemic, while maintaining relationships and supporting the return to school for those with additional communication needs is impressive. The way in which they adapted the curriculum for children who need to lipread, for example, was a particular challenge. I was particularly taken with this idea of embracing the outdoors and using the outdoors as an even older resource to be able to overcome those challenges.”
Helen Devereux Murray from Eastbury Community School in Barking said:
“Deaf children often don’t get the recognition of how amazing they are: winning this award is for them.”
Chief judge of the Tes Schools Awards and Editor of Tes magazine Jon Severs said:
“The Tes Schools Awards are the Oscars of education, recognising and celebrating everything that’s great about our schools and school staff. We had so many entries from teachers and schools across the country; choosing the winners was no easy task. Congratulations to the winning schools and thank you to all school staff who do such vital work every day.”
The Tes Schools Awards were held at the Grosvenor Hotel, on London’s Park Lane. They were held in person for the first time in three years, after two virtual ceremonies.
For the full list of winners of the Tes Schools Awards, visit https://www.tes.com/magazine/news/general/tes-schools-awards-2022-winners.
