The Angmering School celebrates teachers’ achievements, including national recognition

Vicky Lyons has been awarded Advanced Teacher Status (ATS) by the Education and Training Foundation (ETF) and is one of only 23 teachers throughout the country to achieve this standard so far.

The history and sociology teacher had to complete a gruelling project, developing her use of metacognition – awareness and understanding of her own thought processes – in the classroom.

Miss Lyons will also be granted Chartered Teacher designation when it is conferred by the Chartered College of Teaching this year, for the first time.

David Russell, ETF chief executive, said: “Achieving ATS signals a commitment to driving forward teaching standards. The additional conferment of Chartered Teacher Status is a significant reward for those who bring their high levels of skill and commitment to teaching and training and help to promote high standards across the sector.”

ATS was launched in June 2017 and is open only to those who have already achieved Qualified Teacher Learning and Skills (QTLS) status. The Society for Education and Training announced at its inaugural conference in November that those who achieve ATS will automatically be conferred with Chartered Teacher designation.

Professor Dame Alison Peacock, chief executive of the Chartered College of Teaching, said: “We’re pleased that those who achieve ATS will also now be recognised with Chartered Teacher Status.

“We want to see expertise in teaching running through the DNA of teachers across the whole profession. As with our Chartered Teacher programme, ATS celebrates evidence-informed, high-quality teaching and will play an important role in raising the status of the profession.”

Angmering students achieved outstanding GCSE results last year, including four reaching grade 9, the highest mark possible.

Anna Ward, assistant head teacher, this was when Miss Lyons’ success really became clear.

“Miss Lyons is one of our Teaching and Learning Leaders (TALLs) and leads on Good to Outstanding, as well as coaching staff,” she added.

“Over the last term and a half, The Angmering School teaching and support staff have been working tirelessly to ensure our students are getting the best education and school experience possible.

“We are very proud of all our staff and their efforts in and outside the classroom. We wanted to share with you some of the outstanding achievements our staff have been awarded and the effort they go to, to ensure we are always at our best.”

Caroline Riggs, science and psychology teacher, has been selected by The Royal Society as one of 11 UK delegates to share teaching expertise at a European science festival.

Miss Riggs will be going to Portugal later this year to share her project on radiation with delegates from 30 countries at the Science on Stage festival 2019.

She has been hard at work, spreading science outside the classroom by running outreach opportunities at a range of venues, including the British Airways i360.

She has been chosen to represent the UK for science communication for her approach to teaching key stage four.

The Royal Society’s Science on Stage provides a European platform for science teachers to exchange teaching concepts and to share ideas. The ultimate goal is to improve science teaching by encouraging creativity in science teachers.

The European festival will take place from October 31 to November 3, 2019, in Cascais, Portugal, where STEM teachers from 33 countries will exchange best practice teaching concepts.

Other teachers at The Angmering School have been taking additional courses in their own time to improve their teaching.

Cherie Sykes, English and media teacher, has just completed her masters, writing about the impact of the RRSA (Rights Respecting School Award) in secondary schools from a student perspective and their views on the importance of learning about rights at school.

Mrs Sykes gained a merit and has embedded RRSA, recently leading the school to the Silver Award.

Sam Hobbs, subject leader for art, also works as a lecturer on secondary art and design on the PGCE course at Brighton University and has recently completed her MA (Ed) in leadership and management alongside her teaching commitments.

Sam is also a member of the National Sketchbook Circle for Artist Educators, exhibited at Brighton Open Houses last year and is part of adurArtcollective in Shoreham.

Mrs Ward said: “A huge thank you to all our staff who are undertaking courses in their own time, including masters and Open University courses. The staff and students are lucky to have such dedicated professionals.”

Mrs Ward has also been busy, as a facilitator for both NPQSL (National Pathway Qualification in Senior Leadership) and NPQML (National Pathway Qualification in Middle Leadership), running sessions for local clusters and for the Institute of Education in London, helping coach and train leaders around the country.

Four members have staff are about to complete the NPQML, through the Institute of Education, and five teachers are about to start work on the qualification.

Two of the senior management team, Hannah Knox and Jo Neville, are starting the NPQSL to further develop their whole school leadership skills.

Outside the school, deputy head teacher Anne-Marie Anderson has been an avid supporter of Women Leaders in Education, a grassroots movement looking to address gender inequality in senior leadership. She has been appointed as a coach, helping to guide future female leaders.

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