(20 December 2019 – Blackburn) – Cwmlai Primary School in Tonyrefail has successfully overcome competition from schools around the UK and Ireland in the second leg of Promethean’s #ClassroomStory competition. The nationwide competition celebrates education and gives schools the opportunity to win an award-winning education technology package valued at £3,000.
Following the success of the first #ClassroomStory competition at the end of last term, the competition returned at the start of the academic year – encouraging schools to submit a video or a text entry via social media telling their favourite teacher tales. Eight educators were shortlisted before a week-long public voting period commenced, where the top five winners were chosen by the educational community.
Global education technology company, Promethean launched the first #ClassroomStory competition last term following the negative headlines surrounding teacher workloads, retention rates and what’s being named as the ‘crisis in education’. In an effort to remind teachers of the wonderful work they do and the impact they have on the lives of students on a daily basis, Promethean encouraged educators to share their favourite stories at ‘the most wonderful time of the year’ in a bid to win a state-of-the-art edtech package to start 2020.
In her video entry, which can be seen here, Sian shares the heart-warming story of a young boy who joined her class last year with a lot of issues. Sian reflects on how working with and listening to the young boy, alongside his support worker Heidi, helped the young boy to steer his own curriculum and begin to make strides in his educational career. By adapting the classroom dynamic to support the young boy, Sian explains how she feels grateful to have learnt so much from the student and will always admire how a young boy taught two teachers how to guide his own learning.
Sian Stancombe, Literacy Coordinator and Year 4/5 teacher at Cwmlai Primary School, commented: “Following hearing about the #ClassroomStory competition, one thing stood out for me, and that was the young boy who joined my class last year. I have been a teacher for 30 years and it was a perfect example of how much teachers can learn from students who need additional support to guide their learning. The student was incredibly smart and asked probing questions and it was incredible to nurture his passions and support him to steer his own curriculum. It truly is a year I will never forget in my educational career and I am so grateful to him.”
Alistair Hayward, Promethean’s Head of UKI and ANZ markets, commented: “Following the success of the first #ClassroomStory competition last term, we were incredibly pleased to bring back the competition for the new school year. We were incredibly impressed with the number of entries and thoroughly enjoyed listening and reading the truly incredible stories the education community had to share. As a result, I’d like to congratulate the winning teachers and thank everyone who took part in the #ClassroomStory competition for their efforts – and wish everyone a Merry Christmas!”
Cwmlai Primary School’s ActivPanel will be installed over the festive period ready for use at the start of the New Year. Transforming front of class teaching by encouraging interactivity and seamlessly integrating other forms of technology within the classroom, the ActivPanel creates a truly immersive learning experience. Promethean is looking forward to developing a partnership with the winning schools and helping them to make the most of the technology.
