Inspirational Limavady Teaching assistant honoured in prestigious UK celebration of teaching
Ruth Riley honoured as schools across the country celebrate Thank a Teacher Day to highlight families’ gratitude to school staff
Ruth Riley
Selected from thousands of nominations, Ruth Riley has been honoured as one of 102 Pearson National Teaching Silver Award winners across the country.
Ruth was honoured with a Silver Award in The Award for Teaching Assistant of the Year for her outstanding commitment to changing the lives of the children she works with every day.
Ruth is a warm, caring and nurturing Teaching Assistant who is extremely sensitive and empathetic to the needs of all of the nursery children. When involved in working with children of such a young age, “above and beyond” and “going the extra mile” are phrases which sum up the hard working and dedicated person that Ruth is.
She keeps abreast of new initiatives and training within preschool to help provide excellent support to nursery staff. From baking scones, planting seeds or playing toy guitars with the children, Ruth is highly committed to her profession and helps to ensure pupils achieve their very best in all areas of the preschool curriculum.
Ruth has now been shortlisted to win one of just 15 Gold Awards later in the year, in a programme which will be broadcast on the BBC. This is a great opportunity to celebrate the exceptional school staff who have worked wonders during an incredibly challenging time for educators across the country.
The Silver Award winners are being honoured as part of the wider celebrations for ‘Thank a Teacher Day’, a national campaign to honour and recognise school staff for their incredible work.
The celebrations follow new data which shows how the previous year’s lockdowns have significantly changed how families across the country view the role of teachers.
New research from Parentkind and The Teaching Awards Trust highlights that three in four parents and carers have a newfound respect for the teaching profession following their experiences of remote learning during lockdown.
74.9% of survey respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they had more respect for the work that teachers do following their family’s experiences of remote learning.
The last year has seen a wealth of stories of teachers making care visits to vulnerable families, coming up with innovative ways of remote teaching, keeping their pupils settled by regularly checking in and even using their school sites for Covid-19 testing when classes did return to school.
There has never been a better time to appreciate them and the vital work they do.
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 22nd year of celebrating, award-winning teachers, teaching assistants, headteachers and lecturers across the UK.
Sir Michael Morpurgo, celebrated author and former Children’s Laureate, and President of the Teaching Awards Trust, said: “Thank a Teacher Day gives us all a chance - children, families, all of us - to pay tribute to those wonderful educators who change more lives than they will ever know.
"Today we say thank you to the teachers who have helped our young people navigate these most difficult of times, and who will continue to inspire countless young minds over the coming years.”
Sharon Hague, Senior Vice President of Schools at Pearson UK, said:
“After a year like no other we want to take today to say thank you to all the incredible school staff who have kept children and young people learning despite unprecedented challenges.
"We hope the celebrations today show how much you are appreciated, and that your hard work has not gone unnoticed nor unrecognised.”
Shine a spotlight on Limavady, County Londonderry by becoming an Area Ambassador.
