A shared passion for helping young people thrive

4 minutes

read

|

While this year’s Northamptonshire Education Awards proved a glittering celebration of the passion, dedication and achievements of hundreds of people throughout the county’s education sector, it was also a moment to recognise the other side of nurturing and developing our young learners.

More than 450 guests – made up of finalists, their friends and colleagues, sponsors, judges and invited guests – gathered at The County Ground, home of Northamptonshire County Cricket, to hear the winners announced. Schools, teams and individuals proudly stepped up to receive their awards and share their successes.

First up, however, was the Judges’ Special Award, instigated this year at the request of the judging panel.

The recipient was Matt Coleman, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at Nene Education Trust, whose pioneering work with schools not only within the trust but in the wider education community, has put young people’s mental health at the centre of the educational focus. Following the tragic suicide of one of his students, Matt set about implementing change by raising awareness in all schools about suicide awareness and promoting mental health training all staff.

Earlier in the evening, it had been announced that the mental health and suicide prevention charity Kelly’s Heroes would be the awards’ charity partner.

After receiving his award, Matt Coleman said:

“I think the main message is about how we use something so tragic as a catalyst for good. We can actually see how what we do is impacting on young people and how important it is to have suicide awareness as part of the National Curriculum. And we’re having serious, ongoing talks with the DfE about making that happen, it might be a few years down the line, but I think it will happen.

“There’s still some real challenges out there but I’m proud that we’ve shone a light on it.”

Iain Stirling, comedian and the voice of TV’s Love Island, hosted the evening, taking to the stage after the guests had enjoyed a drinks reception and dinner.

First up on stage to pick up her award was Lydia Hadaway from Stanwick Primary School, who was named Maths Team or Teacher. The judges had commented on how Lydia’s enthusiasm and obvious love for maths had shone through her application.

From there, the awards recognised the work of teachers, teams within schools and colleges and the schools themselves as, among others, Nicola Holland from Billing Brook School was named IT Champion and Dan Rosser took the Headteacher of the Year Award back to Wootton Park School.

Patrick Leavey - Northampton College

This year’s Lifetime Achievement Award went to Patrick Leavey from Northampton College.

After thanking his family for their support, Patrick said:

“I want to thank my colleagues for their kind words, it has been a privilege to work with such fantastic, dedicated people, those very special colleagues and friends who are here with me this evening.”

Although nominated for a number of awards, Blisworth Primary School had to wait until almost the end of proceedings to find out that it had been chosen as the Overall School of the Year for 2024. The judges chose the school because they felt that although it hadn’t taken any category awards, the comments they had read about how the school excels over a number of different areas deserved recognition.

Ben Thomas, Managing Director of All Things Business, the organisers of the Northamptonshire Education Awards, said:

“We, as a company, reinforce the message over and over again the business needs education and education needs business.

“And that’s why nights like this are so important. Yes, it can be tough in the education sector and it certainly hasn’t been easy for anyone over the past few years. But it’s also a community, with schools and professionals supporting one another and being there for one another and coming together to celebrate each other’s achievements.”