An award winning tutor from Warrington Collegiate had the time of his life at the prestigious UK final of the Pearson Teaching Awards held at London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.
Finalists were selected from thousands of nominations from across the UK and Rory joined a list of 67 exceptional teachers who are the Teaching Awards “stars” of the education profession for 2015.
Rory enjoyed the red carpet treatment at the “Oscars for Teachers”; a glitzy awards ceremony hosted by TV historian Dan Snow.
The ceremony, titled “Britain’s Classroom Heroes”, was filmed and broadcast by the BBC as a showcase of excellence in education.
In the programme, Dan Snow was joined by a host of stars including Laurence Fox, Sarah Hadland and EastEnders actor Richard Blackwood, along with Prime Minister, David Cameron, to celebrate Britain’s Classroom Heroes at the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden. The show included an amazing performance from the award-winning musical Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Rory narrowly missed out on the gold, but in true modest fashion this excellent practitioner says, “I was nominated in the category of ‘Outstanding Use of Technology in Teaching.’ Although I didn’t win I was extremely proud to be chosen as one of the finalists. I would like to thank all those colleagues who offered me support and encouragement on this terrific adventure. In the final analysis the only real winners are our students, they come first and deserve the very best we can offer.”
Oscar-winning actress Emma Thompson, president of the Teaching Awards Trust, said she was “genuinely proud and honoured” to be president of the Teaching Awards.
“I owe so much of what I’ve done to my fantastic teachers at school and university and it is exciting to join in celebrating what is probably the most important profession of them all.”
The Pearson Awards were founded by Lord David Puttnam in 1998 in order to celebrate excellence in education. They are open to teachers from England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile students can find out more about the exciting range of vocational courses, apprenticeships, professional qualifications and higher education at the Open Evening and Skills Show on Thursday 12th November, 5-7.00pm
Students can find out more about the extensive range of Vocational Courses and Apprenticeships by visiting the website www.warrington.ac.uk
Students can also request information and a prospectus by calling Learner Services 01925 494494 or emailing [email protected]
Pictures show Rory Lees-Oakes with his souvenir booklet from the ‘Teachers Oscars’ and with Gold Award winner Raymond Chambers and his wife.
