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Mr Hawthorne receives warm applause from the Mayor of Saltash and Mrs Bryce after accepting his award.
saltash.net’s reputation for providing the highest quality teaching and learning opportunities for its students was further strengthened today as teacher of Maths, Mr Alan Hawthorne, was named the National Teaching Awards’ Regional Winner for the Outstanding Use of Technology in Education.
Nominated by the students through their School Council, Mr Alan Hawthorne received a visit from two National Teaching Award judges at the end of April. Mr. Hawthorne had been put forward for the 2016 Pearson Teaching Awards by the student council, who then worked with Deputy Headteacher, Mr. Buckley, on writing the official nomination.
The judges, Tony Gray and Bob Twells, spent three hours at the school observing Alan teach a Year 13 A Level Maths lesson, and also met with the school’s senior leadership team, members of the Maths department and other colleagues, students from across a range of year groups and parent representatives.
A very special ‘surprise’ assembly event was held on the morning of Friday 17th June, the official ‘Thank a Teacher Day’. After a discussion about the upcoming EU referendum chaired by Mr. Killeya, Mayor of Saltash, Mrs Hillary Frank, was invited to say a few words about democracy, before handing over to Mrs Bryce.
Mrs Bryce announced to the school community that Mr Hawthorne had won a Silver Teaching Award, making him eligible for the National Finals due to take place in October, as well as a prestigious visit to the House of Commons later this month.
Chair of Governors, Kate Waghorn, and the Saltash Observer’s Martin Lister were also in attendance for the awards presentation.
saltash.net Headteacher Mrs Bryce said:
‘This is a remarkable achievement, not just for Alan and the Maths department, but also for the school, as it is the second time in two years that saltash.net has had a Regional National Teaching Awards winner in the Outstanding Use of Technology Award category.
“Alan is a truly inspirational teacher. The A Level lesson that the judges observed was deemed to be outstanding for the way in which technology was used ‘seamlessly’ to both engage the students and ensure maximum progress was made. Alan is a truly worthy winner and we all wish him well with the national final in the Autumn.’