Earlier this year, Anastasia Nicholls, Therapy Assistant at Abingdon House School, was nominated for the Pearson’s National Teaching Awards and was shortlisted for the Teaching Assistant of the Year category. It was a real honour to be shortlisted, however, on June 19th, Anastasia was then awarded the Silver Award, placing her in an elite group of the top 4 TAs in the country.
On the 11th July 2019, Silver Award winners travelled from various locations within the UK to celebrate such a great achievement at the House of Commons for afternoon tea. It was an informal event and a great opportunity to meet other people working within the teaching profession. The then Secretary of State for Education, Damian Hinds, came to speak at the event. During his speech he was quick to recognise and praise all teaching staff across the county for the tremendous work we all do day in and out.
On Sunday 20th October 2019, all Silver winners were invited to the Britain's Classroom Heroes Awards Ceremony, held at the Roundhouse London and televised on BBC2, where the winners of the Gold Awards were announced, Anastasia was accompanied by Abingdon Head Teacher, Tanya Moran, Occupational Therapist and Therapist Leader, Claire Lancaster, Head of Wellbeing and Behavioural Support, Nadia Carella, and Anastasia’s close family members.
Only 13, out of the 68 silver winners, were able to win gold awards. Although Anastasia didn’t win the gold award for the Teaching Assistant of the Year category, it was a magnificent achievement to have won the Silver Award and to be recognised amongst an incredibly strong and inspirational group of professionals The evening was filled with admiration as the audience heard all the wonderful success stories of the people and schools that won awards.
Anastasia commented “It has been an honour to win such an award, but I can’t take all the credit for myself. I am surrounded by such a fantastic, dedicated, supportive and inspirational team here at Abingdon House School. I’ve only been a part of the team since September 2017 and have been shown nothing but kindness and patience. I have been lucky enough to work alongside some amazing teachers, therapists and support staff who are my constant source of inspiration, each and every one of them has so much to offer and are great role models to learn from. The children here at Abingdon House are incredible and are my reason for wanting to become better at what I do. This award is a reflection, not only of my own work but the work that goes on here by everyone at Abingdon House School. I would like to thank everyone at Abingdon House as without all your guidance and support I couldn’t have come this far.``