The Tes Schools Awards last Friday were as joyous as ever, but bookending a night of celebration was an important acknowledgement of those young people who are often let down, not only in education but in wider life.

At the start of the evening, the Services to Education Award was posthumously awarded to Baroness Warnock for her work on including children with special educational needs and disabilities in mainstream schools. Her report of the Committee of Enquiry into the Education of Handicapped Children and Young People more than 40 years ago remains the most comprehensive review of SEND ever to be published by government.

And at the end of the prize-giving, our headline award of the overall school of the year went to Meadow View Farm School. This school in Leicestershire serves children with complex social, emotional and mental health needs, many of whom have been through traumatic experiences and been excluded from mainstream education. Staff “ensure they know about the children we work with, that they know what life is like for them and this enables us to be there for them, no matter what”, says head Ryan Kilby.

It is when supporting our most vulnerable young people that teaching is most clearly shown to have a pastoral role as well as an educational one. It is too easy to forget in the midst of debates over knowledge-rich curricula that schools are not just there to prepare children academically for life. 

That’s a tough task, and - as education secretary Damian Hinds told the audience - it makes teaching a “unique job”. He admitted, too, that it is a job he could never do and that teachers were “extraordinary”.

Of course, teachers don’t do it for such praise. As one judge said, they don’t blow their own trumpets. So, it’s a privilege to do that for them. And not only on one night. Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to present a different narrative on schools on various radio stations around the country. Instead of having to talk about all the things that are wrong in education, it was refreshing to be able to celebrate all the things that are right.

While we desperately need more teachers, people perceive so many barriers to pursuing the job. But the likes of new teacher of the year Abed Ahmed show it really is an inclusive profession. He shared his story on This Morning with Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby. Told he could never be a teacher because of his stammer, he proved everyone wrong, and he now runs a support group for pupils who stammer.

Another great appeal of the profession is the collegiality. Best story of pride on the night goes to Chris Fairbairn, principal of the Totteridge Academy, who was celebrating his birthday when he heard his school had won maths team of the year and hotfooted it down to Park Lane to toast their success.

Of course, none of this takes away the challenges the profession faces but we need to listen to Baroness Warnock and the teachers of Meadow View Farm School. Let’s apply how they see vulnerable pupils to how we view the profession: yes, we need to address problems but we cannot forget to recognise and celebrate the successes, too. 

So, a toast to the winners. You’ve made us proud. Here’s to all those mentioned above, and to Teresa Roche, Naveed Idrees, Aimee Durning, Mark Reed, Grendon CE Primary School, Cathedral Academy, Little Forest Folk Wimbledon, Fairfield Primary School, Admiral Lord Nelson School, St Colm’s High School, the Observatory School, Joseph Cash Primary School, Tapton School Academy Trust, Oxfordshire Hospital School and Bradford Academy. 

@AnnMroz

This article originally appeared in the 28 June 2019 issue under the headline “Teachers are a modest bunch - but it’s time to take a bow”