North East Schools Celebrated at Lord Glenamara Awards
This year’s Lord Glenamara Awards were held virtually on 12th July 2021 to celebrate education in the North East. The Lord Glenamara Prize is part of the Government’s commitment to level up and raise aspirations for children in the North East through the Opportunity North East (ONE) programme. The programme was launched in October 2018 and is entering its final year of delivery from September, with over half of the region’s secondary schools now actively involved in the programme.
Schools North East Director, Chris Zarraga, presented the Pastoral Care Award to River Tees Middlesbrough Pastoral Team (River Tees Middle Academy). On winning the award the team said:
“Winning the Glenmara Award for Outstanding Pastoral Team is a great honour for myself, the team and River Tees Academy. The team have proven that we are passionate about changing the lives of our young people and this has been demonstrated week in, week out, especially during these recent difficult times with offers of full time education for all students, online learning and technology support, food parcels, vouchers and twice weekly contact to ensure that our students were ready to return post lockdown. As a Pastoral Team we have developed good links with parents, carers and other agencies and we believe that this is key to supporting our learners in their development. We are constantly striving to improve our educational offer through timetable offer, increase in staff and now the addition of our new free school we will continue to help all our students, families and carers.”
In making the award, Chris said:
“The Pastoral Care team at River Tees Middle Academy are dedicated and committed to the school and wider community, this was evident in the nomination, Both Jess and Bill have consistently gone beyond their role to ensure the safety and welfare of the communities they support. There is a real sense of compassion and empathy which will have had a profound effect on the lives of the children and their families. Both Bill and Jess are providing services and links for families in greatest need, giving support and guidance at the most stressful and chaotic times. Their actions should be applauded.”
We would also like to congratulate the other winners in the awards: Most inspiring North East Head Teacher/Principal, Louise Spellman, (Conyers School and Sixth Form); Pupil Academic Award, Josita Kavitha Thirumalai (St Anthony’s Girls’ Catholic Academy); Pupil Technical Award, Sophia Williams (City of Sunderland College); Excellence in English, English Department (Sedgefield Community College); Excellence in STEM, Dr Michelle Saunders (St Matthew’s Catholic Primary School); New North East Teacher of the Year, Andrew Grant (Bishop Auckland College); and North East careers leader, Ronnie Burn (Newcastle College).