Essex school collaboration honoured in UK celebration of teaching

Submitted by Pearson UK

A collaboration between five schools and the University of Essex has been named as one of 80 Pearson National Teaching Award Silver Award winners across the country.

Vi6 Partnership is honoured with a Silver Award in the category for Impact through Partnership for their outstanding commitment to changing the lives of the children they work with every day.

Five schools and the University of Essex teamed up to formulate the VI6 partnership (VI6 is pronounced “six, six.”) The five schools are between Clacton, Colchester and Tiptree, which has created greater diversity amongst teaching staff and students. This group formulated this sixth form provision to ensure a greater breath of subjects across the institutions in order to achieve common goals; greater success for students, on prestigious courses, with increased opportunity.

This is essential for subjects with low uptake, as often schools cannot afford to run subjects such as Government and Politics, Spanish and Further Maths. Clacton Coastal Academy, Clacton County High School, The Colne Community School, Philip Morant School and The Thurstable School are all equal and successful contributors to this partnership.

The lessons, which include Further Maths, Economics, Law, Sociology and Spanish are timetabled at the University of Essex. Each school offer a number of teachers to deliver these subjects, which means that a Sociology teacher may be teaching students from five different Colleges.  VI6 subjects are taught at the University of Essex every Monday.

As a Silver Award winner, VI6 Partnership has now been shortlisted to win one of just 16 Gold Awards later in the year, in a programme to be broadcast on the BBC. Recognition of this once in a lifetime achievement will be broadcast on the BBC’s The One Show as part of a week-long celebration of teaching, which sees famous faces honour award winners every night in the run up to the ceremony. This is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the exceptional school staff who have worked wonders to bring together their local communities despite the challenges of the past few years.

The Silver Award winners are being honoured as part of the wider celebrations for national ‘Thank a Teacher Day’, bringing together everyone across the country to celebrate the schools and colleges at the heart of our communities.

The Pearson National Teaching Awards is an annual celebration of excellence in education, founded in 1998 by Lord Puttnam to recognise the life-changing impact an inspirational teacher can have on the lives of the young people they work with. This year marks its 23rd year of celebrating our school staff across the UK.  

Director of Outreach, Lucy Murray, said: “The VI6 project is an important part of our outreach activity with local schools and colleges and we are delighted that it has been recognised with this award. As a University, we strive to raise the aspirations of young people with the potential to go to University, regardless of what their background is. VI6 demonstrates how, by working together, and being innovative, we can all support young people to succeed.”

Sharon Hague, managing director of Schools at Pearson UK, said:  “Congratulations to today’s Silver Award winners on their incredible achievement, they should all feel very proud of themselves. And thank you to all the incredible educators and support staff across this country who really do make our schools and colleges so special. I am delighted that we can take this opportunity to say how much we appreciate all that you do for the young people in your care.”

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said: “Congratulations to the VI6 Partnership on this incredible achievement, and for the hard work and dedication which led up to it. Winning this award is impressive, well-deserved and shows their commitment to helping students achieve their full potential.”

Michael Morpurgo, celebrated author and former Children’s Laureate, and President of the Teaching Awards Trust, said:  “For so many of us, it was someone at school who changed our lives, was at our side through hard and difficult times, who lifted us up when we were down, helped us find our voice, gave us confidence when we needed it most, and set us on a path that we have followed ever since.

“No matter who we are, school has touched our lives and played a central role in our childhoods. School is about so much more than learning, and we see that now more than ever before.

"Schools really are the beating heart of our communities. Every person that cares for our children in schools should be celebrated loud and clear on Thank A Teacher Day 2022.”

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