A TEACHER has gone to the top of the class after being honoured at an educational awards ceremony.
Darlington School of Mathematics and Science teacher Tom Holmes was named as Secondary School NQT of the Year at a ceremony hosted by Darlington’s Leadership College in the town’s Dolphin Centre.
Tom, 24, graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in astrophysics and mathematics.
He recently completed his two years’ on the job training as a maths teacher at DSMS to achieve his Post Graduate Certificate in Education after joining the school through the national Teach First scheme.
Teach First is an independent charity that works to break the link between low family income and educational attainment by attracting, training and placing some the country’s most accomplished young minds as teachers.
DSMS head teacher Calvin Kipling said: “We are extremely proud of Tom’s achievement which reflects the high standard of teaching staff that we have here.
“Teach first has added a new dimension in attracting some of the best young graduates into teaching and our students have benefited from the youthful dynamism of the highly trained, highly motivated recruits who are relentlessly focussed on pupil success.
“Since he came to the school Tom has been a complete asset, facilitating relationships with pupils and staff and has helped us to gain some particularly impressive grades with our gifted and talented students.”
Choosing to relocate to the North East, through Teach First, Tom was allocated a position as a maths NQT at DSMS alongside Glasgow University English graduate Natalie Bane, 27.
“I became interested in teaching while still at school,” said Tom.
“At university I heard about the Teach First programme and having volunteered through a scheme in a local primary school, I applied to teach secondary maths after I completed my degree.
“Qualifying on the job has been very intense. It’s been a massive learning curve and I’ve needed to learn a lot but I’ve had amazing support from the head teacher, my mentors Karen Phillips and Ellen Leafe, all of the other maths staff and teaching staff.”
Although Teach First graduates are free to move schools after their initial two year training period, Tom has decided to continue his career teaching at DSMS.
“The pupils here are amazing, they are so incredibly keen to learn and the rewards you get from teaching are so unlike anything else.
“I feel very honoured to have been given this award but as teaching is such a collaborative job and not a solo effort this award is for all the staff here at DSMS.”
