A member of support staff at Beacon Academy in Crowborough has won two Sussex Teacher of the Year Awards.
Library Supervisor and Year 9 Coordinator, Miss Natasha Allen, has been recognised and celebrated for her outstanding contribution to the education and wellbeing of the students.
In her multi-faceted role, Miss Allen works alongside Beacon Academy’s Learning Development team to provide outstanding support to students with special educational needs, disabilities or temporary injuries. As Library Supervisor, Miss Allen works alongside the English department and Librarian to support students to develop their independent reading practice and deliver exciting events promoting reading for pleasure.
Nominated by a student, Miss Allen was picked as a finalist to attend the Awards presentation on Saturday 6th November in Brighton, where she was presented with not one, but two awards: Support Staff Member of the Year, Wealden and Overall Sussex Librarian of the Year!
On announcing the award for Overall Sussex Librarian of the Year, the judges said:
The winner is so enthusiastic about their role in the library they make themed displays, run the book fairs, help students find books, create a warm and safe space for students, helped implement and ran a very successful book club over lockdown, organised World Book Day events which were attended and loved by everyone, generally just enthusing students about reading, and since COVID delivered books to classrooms every day to ensure students can still read and then in lockdown delivered them to children’s homes! All this whilst maintaining the online library to keep it as engaging and exciting as possible. And this literary superstar is Natasha Allen of Beacon Academy.
Sussex Teacher of the Year Award judges
Teacher of English at Beacon Academy, Ms Richardson, said:
Miss Allen brings a spark and life to the Library, making it a safe and inclusive space for all students. She also orchestrated and ran the virtual book club over lockdown which was amazing and the students who attended, loved it.
Ms Richardson
On behalf of the fourteen individual members of staff nominated by students, parents and colleagues, Beacon Academy would like to thank everyone who voted.
In the same awards, Mrs Silverman-Evans, a teacher at Jarvis Brook School, won Primary School Teacher of the Year for the Wealden district.
