Bristol teacher wins major prize at national awards
An important prize has been awarded to a teacher at a school in Bristol at the Tes Schools Awards, one of the biggest nights in the UK education calendar which was held on Friday 23rd June at the Grosvenor House Hotel, on London’s Park Lane.
Sally Goodridge from Summerhill Primary Academy in Bristol has won Primary Curriculum Leader of the Year for her incredible work integrating PE into the school way of life.
Dubbed the ‘Oscars of Education’, the Tes Schools Awards is now in its landmark 15th year. It celebrates the extraordinary commitment, quality and innovation shown by teachers and support staff across the UK.
Sally has used her passion for sport to rejuvenate the PE curriculum at Summerhill, where staff PE surveys showed that teachers lacked confidence in delivering the PE curriculum.
After taking over leadership of the subject, she created a bespoke learning package for all staff and used Sport Premium funding to bring expert sports coaches into school to co-teach and mentor teachers in PE.
Sally’s enthusiasm for her subject is spreading throughout the school. She launched a Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds approach across PE, PSHE and Personal Development, including a new active uniforms policy so that children are ready for physical activity at any point during the school day. The policy has helped Summerhill get an outstanding judgement from Ofsted for personal development.
Sally’s fresh approach to PE has seen participation in lunchtime and after school sports clubs expand markedly, with a big boost in the numbers of disadvantaged pupils taking part.
Now Sally is working on developing leadership outside the school and is sharing her expertise with PE leads across Summerhill’s parent trust.
Judge Amanda Wilson said: “This is an excellent example of how the impact is so much greater when something is truly threaded throughout a school. The way Sally has engaged the whole school community in these activities and evidenced their impact so well, is really impressive.”
Sally Goodridge from Summerhill Primary Academy said: “I’m totally blown away to have won this award! The work we’ve managed to carry out at the school is testament to the support we’ve had from the senior leadership team, as well as the trust we are a part of.”
Tes editor and chief judge of the Tes Schools Awards Jon Severs said: “With these awards we honour the education community, who we’ve served for nearly 113 years. This year has seen some incredibly high-quality entries.
“These awards showcase just how vital our education professionals are to every facet of this country. Teachers, leaders and support staff all play such an important role in schools: this is our chance to say thank you for all that they do.”
