ASIAN HEADMASTER WINS TEACHING AWARD 2004
(28 June 2004)

Pritpal Singh, Headteacher of the Drayton Manor High School in Handwell was just one of three Asian Teachers to win at the Teaching Awards 2004. Baldev Singh won the Innovation in Education Award for the West of England area and Sarah Mukkadam won Outstanding New Teacher in the East Midlands region. The Regional Ceremony for London, which took place on Monday 28 June, is the sixth annual event since the Teaching Awards Trust was established by Lord Puttnam CBE in 1998.

Fifteen headteachers, teachers and teaching assistants from London each received a prize package worth over £4,500 for their school, including a £2,000 cash grant and an ICT package worth in excess of £2,500.

The London Awards Ceremony is one of 13 events which took place across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Every Regional Winner is then invited to attend the Teaching Awards 2004 National Ceremony which will take place on 24 October 2004. Ten National Teaching Awards Winners will receive a further best practice cash grant and ICT equipment taking the prize for their school to a value of over £25,000.

PRITPAL SINGH

London Regional Winner - Headteacher of the Year 2004
Pritpal Singh - Drayton Manor High School, Hanwell

Pritpal has been in his current post for ten years. This year is also a celebration for him as he completes 25 years in the teaching profession.

Quite simply, his leadership is excellent. Pritpal has successfully built a high performing team of senior managers who have effectively managed change to create an outstanding school. He leads by example and from the front, taking responsibility in partnership with all staff, governors, parents and students for the key decisions that have to be made.

The school is comprehensive in the truest sense of the word. Multi ethnic and multi cultural, students come from a mix of backgrounds, ranging from refugee status to established professional homes. 40 different languages are spoken and some 12 per cent have special educational needs.

The status it current enjoys, named as one of the 100 most improved schools, as a recipient of Beacon Status and one of 300 Leading Edge status schools in the country, was not always the case. Before Pritpal's arrival security was an issue inside and outside the school with no-go areas, and no-go students who ruled the roost. The environment was defaced by graffiti and malicious damage that was seldom repaired. Yet Pritpal's air of calm authority, coupled with a lot of hard work has now made this a school of choice for both staff and pupils.

A member of the team who has been at the school for 15 years said, 'He takes pride in the way the school looks which affects the way the students view it. The students are loyal. It is a much calmer school now and we have a brilliant senior management team. It is a happy school and people have respect for each other.'

Likewise a past student commented, 'During my seven years at the school the atmosphere changed. Organisation became slicker, the buildings were replaced, the image smartened, tuition became exceptional, wider courses and possibilities were offered, and pupils felt able to have respect and friendship with teachers.'

It is no surprise that this school will be cited for its excellence in this year's annual report of Her Majesty's Inspectors. It is complete testimony to Pritpal's commitment, professionalism, dedication and vision. In response he says simply, 'I aim for excellence without elitism.'

BALDEV SINGH

Regional Winner of the Innovation Unit Award
for Innovation in Education in the West
Baldev Singh - John Cabot City Technology College, Kingswood, Bristol

Baldev is a teacher who knows no bounds. From Bristol to Jordan, Singapore to Edinburgh, and to a township in Johannesburg, every one of these locations has been touched by this man who has been a teaching professional for just six years.

The impact Baldev has had, firstly on his own school, then locally, nationally and internationally, has been immense. During the summer of 2002 Baldev created a brand new course for Years 7, 8 and 9 combining the exciting content of the citizenship curriculum with the best that ICT has to offer. 'E-Cit' is now an integral part of the Key Stage 3 studies at his school and has already been taken up by other teaching establishments.

Baldev is one of a select group of teachers working on Gemini Pioneers, a software project that brings together children across the globe. Over a period of four weeks his own school worked with another in South Africa to research the complex issues and problems within the Middle East. Each group presented their findings to the other, generating a series of suggestions for bringing the children of Israel and the Palestine territories together. Many of the proposals from the project are actually going forward and will be set up over the next two years.

Further work in conjunction with Charlton Athletic Football club and the Metropolitan Police has gone beyond the normal trans-national email link ups and is actually being used to train South African township police officers and to help improve community relationships between the police authorities and the townships' young people and their parents. It truly is an agenda of transformation.

Influencing ICT strategies and curriculum policy on an international scale is just a flavour of Baldev's exceptional work. He has been one of the leading lights for both the British Council's Wired Communities programme and its Montage project, and is also advising on Jordan's ICT national curriculum strategy.

Teaching Awards Panel Members said of Baldev, 'Creative and innovative, he takes his ability to teach into so many forums. Yet he retains the essential quality of humility that enables him to interact with young people, on their level, exciting and motivating them as only a really gifted teacher can.'

SARAH MUKKADAM

Regional Winner of the Teacher Training Agency Award
Outstanding New Teacher in the East Midlands
Sarah Mukaddam - Bosworth Community College, Leicester

Sarah is in her second year of teaching yet has already been promoted to Head of Department.

In her first year of teaching she took sole responsibility for GCSE drama and AS/A2 theatre studies, during which time the school's inspectors highly commended her capabilities.

Colleagues praise her qualities of enthusiasm, energy and inspiration. This year Sarah took on a major musical production, and as well as staging the show she managed the fundraising to finance it too. Her solution was to host a fashion show in which she encouraged staff and students to act as models and cajoled several high street stores to loan clothes for the purpose. Persuasiveness should definitely be added to her list of attributes!

Nominations for the Teaching Awards 2005 are now open. Parents, pupils, colleagues and members of the school community can nominate inspiring headteachers, teachers and teaching assistants online at www.teachingawards.com.

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