For the Bev Evans Award 2019 for Best Teaching Resources Author there were four nominees with a range of fantastic resources on Tes.
KS2History - Alison, who is a highly popular creator of history materials for primary schools.
NTeach - Nick, an engineering lecturer who has worked as a physics teacher and creates high quality science resources.
RAResources - Becky, whose insight into creating engaging history lessons comes from teaching that subject in Cornwall for over 17 years.
TandLGuru - Matt and Beth, who have worked together producing dozens of highly rated resources to help English teachers and to support broader staff development.
At the Tes School Awards ceremony on 21 June 2019, Nick Golsby (aka NTeach) was presented with the Bev Evans Award 2019 for Best Teaching Resources Author by Lord Jim Knight.
The announcement was made by Lord Knight in a video on Tes in the week before the ceremony.
“As we do each year, we had a really tough decision in judging both free and paid resources from across the site. Nick’s content design and presentation stood out as exceptionally high quality and his resources are well aligned to the curriculum. The quality of Nick’s resources speak for themselves as they prove very popular amongst teachers internationally. Congratulations to Nick and a big Tes thank you for the support you are offering to millions of teachers around the world”
- Lord Jim Knight
Since joining Tes in 2015, Nick has uploaded 159 resources to Tes, and has seen great success with both his paid-for and free content having been downloaded over 178,000 times by users from all over the world.
Check out NTeach’s shop by clicking the image below.
View some of our previous winners here.
The Bev Evans resource author of the year award celebrates the achievements of standout Tes authors, the quality of their resources and the support they offer teachers around the world.
Here, this 2019's winner Nick Golsby, aka Nteach, and shortlisted author KS2History talk about why they love being Tes authors and share their highlights and top tips.
Nick Golsby, aka Nteach, winner Bev Evans resource author of the year 2019
Tell us about your teaching career?
I was a secondary school science teacher specialising in physics for 3 years before I moved onto working in higher education as an assistant lecturer then lecturer, teaching mechanical engineering. Since leaving secondary education I continued to work with exam boards, with schools for STEM activities and developing Tes resources.
Why did you become a Tes author?
Despite leaving my career as a teacher, I still wanted to contribute to the teaching of science in secondary schools and was aware of the particular challenges in teaching physics. I’m very aware of the pressures on teachers (as I experienced myself) and so wanted to help reduce teacher workload with quality lessons that are ready to download n’ teach.
What has been your highlight to date as an author?
Of course, not only being shortlisted for the Bev Evans award but winning it has been a major highlight, especially when I know how fantastic all the other authors are. But there are highlights all the time, whenever a teacher gets in touch or leaves a review to say how much time they’ve been saved or how much their class has enjoyed the lesson – these are the reasons for being a Tes author.
Which one tip would you give to someone thinking of becoming an author?
Enjoy making and believe in the resources that you create and share, those that use them will then believe in them and enjoy teaching with them.
Ready to join Nick? Find out more about being an author or share your resources in minutes.
KS2History, shortlisted Bev Evans resource author of the year 2019
Tell us about your teaching career?
I trained as a primary teacher in 2008 and have since taught both KS1 and KS2. I’ve always enjoyed planning creative and engaging lessons, but I know how frustrating it can be when the endless lists of other duties squeeze out time to research topics thoroughly, plan in detail and make appealing resources.
When the new curriculum came in, I wanted to spend some time developing high quality plans that covered some of the newer topics that appeared, like the Stone Age to Iron Age KS2 Unit, and I began making them available through platforms like Tes. I also completed a Master's degree in children's literature, which inspired me to find ways to connect literacy to the rest of the curriculum. One of the resources I enjoyed making the most is the Stone Age Boy literacy planning pack which links a literacy unit on narrative to the Stone Age history topic.
Why did you become a paid-for resource author?
In the early days of the free resource platform I was approached by the team at Tes who had noticed that some of my popular resources were a big hit with teachers and invited me to contribute some lengthier paid-for resources. I was excited at the opportunity to use my time to develop longer units of work and it was a great endorsement of my resources to receive an invitation from Tes to be one of the first ever paid-for resource authors. Since then, I’ve produced a number of detailed planning and resource units for KS2 history topics including the Anglo-Saxons, Victorians and the Ancient Egyptians.
What has been your highlight to date as an author?
It has been interesting seeing the author platform develop over time and there have been a few favourite moments along the way. In the very early days, every single resource download felt exciting and I was amazed that my resources were being used in classrooms around the world. The community of authors is friendly and supportive and I’ve really enjoyed getting to know some of the other Tes authors at organised meet-ups and through online communities. More recently, being nominated for the Bev Evans award was a real honour and now each time I publish a new resource it’s a joy to see the positive response from teachers.
Which one tip would you give to someone thinking of becoming an author?
My advice would be to think about which aspect of teaching you’re most passionate about and make resources that tap into that, whether that's a particular subject, year group or a style of teaching – if you’re passionate about it, the chances are that someone else will be too.
For example, I always found it important to strike the right balance of knowledge and skills, so my history resources are jam-packed with key knowledge while still being as hands-on as possible. My lesson plans involve everything from making Roman roads out of biscuits and sweets to recreating Tutankhamun’s tomb discovery underneath covered tables. History comes alive when children are able to engage imaginatively with the past and all of my resources aim to make this happen in creative ways without compromising on key knowledge.
Ready to join KS2History? Find out more about being an author or share your resources in minutes.