Teach Secondary 13.8

BEST IN CLASS After the submission of entries, the whittling down and analysis by our expert judges, we’re now ready to unveil the winners of this year’s Teach Secondary Awards... W hen deciding on which services, resources, tools, books and other items deserve a place in their school, teachers and leaders will often be at a disadvantage. There’s certainly no shortage of options out there – decades of knowledge sharing, product development and technological advances have led to a healthy market for education solutions – but usually precious little time in the day to research what precisely what those options are, and which will be most appropriate. Because decisions over which resources a school should use, when and to what end are never taken lightly. In many cases, it can come down to word of mouth, a recommendation from a fellow practitioner or leader, a suggestion from someone who knows what they’re talking about. Those first-hand experiences can be invaluable, and make all the difference between those purchases that work as advertised, and those that simply doesn’t measure up. That’s why the Teach Secondary Awards are set up as they are. Readers can be assured that the products and services highlighted across the following pages really do deliver on what they set out to do, and meet the quality standards of individuals who will have road-tested and deployed many such resources themselves over the course of their careers. Companies and individuals were invited to enter one or more of their products and/or services for consideration in the 2024 Teach Secondary Awards between May and July 2024. From the entries we received, we then produced a shortlist for each of our eight categories, before passing these on to our panel of expert judges. Depending on the nature of the entries, our judges proceeded to carefully examine the merits of all shortlisted entries between August and October 2024, using print copies, online logins and/or review samples as applicable. The judging criteria varied in part according to category, but our judges were all asked to consider the following when reaching their verdicts: Does this resource satisfy a genuine need or concern? What is its impact likely to be? How easy is it to use in practice? Could the resource be deployed within, and potentially be adapted for, different situations and settings? Does the resource represent a good investment? Our judges were each tasked with awarding one overall category winner, followed by second and third place entries they felt to be deserving of ‘highly commended’ status. HOW IT WORKED ASSESSMENT ED CARLIN is a deputy headteacher at a Scottish secondary school CPD DR CHRIS BAKER is leader of professional development at Cabot Learning Federation CURRICULUM IMPROVEMENT NIKKI CUNNINGHAM-SMITH is an assistant headteacher based in Gloucestershire EDTECH & SOFTWARE ROB WRAITH is head of learning, technology and digital learning at NCG FREE RESOURCE HANNAH DAY is head of art, media and film at Ludlow College HEALTHANDWELLBEING ANN MARIE CHRISTIAN is a safeguarding and child protection consultant, trainer, author and troubleshooter SCHOOL BUSINESS HILARY GOLDSMITH is a school business leader, consultant and NAHTmentor SEND REBECCA LEEK is an experienced school leader and former SENCo, as well as a regular education trainer, speaker and writer MEET THE JUDGES 37 teachwire.net/secondary AWA R D S