Deaf teacher recognised for being a fantastic role model with esteemed award

A profoundly deaf maths teacher has won a national teaching award, being recognised for her outstanding performance with a class of hearing children. 

Award

Alysha Allen, who teaches at Brimsdown Primary School in Enfield, London, won the award for New Teacher of the Year at the Tes Schools Awards. The awards, which are one of the biggest nights in the UK education calendar, were held on Friday 13 November. 

On the night, the Tes Schools Awards were held virtually for the first time to comply with coronavirus regulations. 

Chief judge of the Tes Schools Awards, Ann Mroz, says: “The Tes Schools Awards are the Oscars of education, recognising and celebrating everything that’s great about our schools and school staff. 

“It’s evident from the entries how hard and how imaginatively school staff were working to give children a great education.

“Since then, of course, they have had a pandemic to contend with. But this has only served to underline their commitment to the children in their care. They have worked their socks off to make sure children are learning and are safe. So we congratulate all winners but we also salute each and every person working in our schools today.” 

Using a combination of sign language and lip reading to interact with a class of haring children, Alysha got her whole class to progress to above average performance in maths. 

Achievement 

The school itself recently celebrated 10 years of being an accredited hearing impairment resource base by Signature, the leading awarding body for deaf communications qualifications in the UK.

Alysha’s nomination for the awards reads: “Alysha has inspired us all with her positivity and resilience.

“She has had much more to deal with in her life than many of us but every day she comes to school with a positive attitude and that’s reflected in the enthusiasm of her class, who love to learn.” 

The lead category judge, Professor Samantha Twiselton OBE, praised Alysha’s work, saying: “As always, judging the new teacher category was inspiring and humbling, with so many truly impressive entries. The winner is a fantastic role model for children and teachers everywhere.” 

Alysha is just one teacher highlighted by the awards which were for the 2018-19 academic year. See the full list of winners here

Keep up to date with the latest disability news by following us on social media, TwitterFacebook or Instagram

Accessibility Tools