Party poppers and cake were the order of the day at assembly at Shaftesbury School when Alex More received a teaching award.
Alex was named as one of 80 Pearson National Teaching Award Silver Award winners, successful in the Digital Innovator of the Year category.
He is the lead teacher of Innovation in Teaching and Learning at the school, an active head of faculty and leads the school’s award-winning STEAM – Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics – programme and the ‘Future Classroom’.
He has a keen interest in teaching, learning, educational technology and progressive pedagogy.
Alex is completing his EdD through distance learning at Bath University and has recently become a Hundred Ambassador, working in an advisory capacity to judge global innovations.
He has had a significant impact on students, parents and the local community, as well as making global connections, including with a school in Ghana.
Headteacher Donna London-Hill said: “We are so incredibly proud of Alex and he is thoroughly deserving of this national award – his energy and drive for thinking about and bringing the future of education to the heart of our school is second to none.
“I also want to congratulation Becky Yeo, another of our teachers, who was highly commended.
“She is an incredibly caring, passionate teacher. We are very fortunate here at Shaftesbury School to be surrounded by brilliant teachers and our non-teaching staff, who go out of their way daily to provide you with support and excellence in education.”
As a Silver Award winner, Alex has now been shortlisted to win one of 16 Gold Awards later in the year.
These achievements will be broadcast on the BBC’s The One Show as part of a week-long celebration of teaching, which sees famous faces honour award winners every night in the run up to the ceremony.
The Silver Award winners were honoured as part of wider celebrations for national ‘Thank a Teacher Day’, bringing together everyone across the country to celebrate the schools and colleges at the heart of local communities.
The Pearson National Teaching Awards is an annual celebration of excellence in education, 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 23rd year of celebrating our school teaching staff across the UK.