Pearson’s annual BTEC Awards ceremony took place on Thursday 4 July 2019, at Central Hall Westminster in London.
Now in their ninth year, the BTEC Awards celebrate the breadth and depth of outstanding BTEC teaching and learning across the globe.
This was the first year that all categories were open for global nominations, allowing our exceptional international centres, students and teachers to showcase their amazing stories to a wider audience. And what an impact they had!
Celebrating international success!
Of the more than 570 nominations submitted across 21 categories, 122 (21%) were for teachers and students outside the UK, with 68 international school students and teachers winning either Bronze, Silver or Gold Awards – demonstrating just how high the calibre of BTEC delivery is across the globe.
And a fantastic 41 nomiations were received from the Middle East, including Turkey, with 22 students and teachers in the region receiving Bronze, Silver or Gold Awards!
The BTEC Teacher of the Year Award
We are delighted that the highly coveted BTEC Teacher of the Year Award 2019 was won by Shalini Rajan from GEMS Winchester School in Dubai.
Shalini, who teaches BTEC National level 3 Diploma in IT, told us,“Winning the BTEC Teacher of the Year Award 2019 has really inspired me and I feel empowered and equipped to make positive changes in the classroom. It has always been my passion to encourage lifelong learning and to help students achieve their best beyond the classroom. I’ve been able to do this through BTEC. Being recognised with this prestigious award is a truly humbling and unique feeling.”
The judges were impressed at how Shalini provides her students with the maximum opportunities to apply their skills within and beyond the classroom. Her students are confident users of learning technologies and she provides a wide range of opportunities for them to use technology in daily lessons – including the use of Skype in the classroom for them to collaborate with other students and teachers around the globe.
Adam Jama, Pearson Regional Development Manager in Dubai, who accompanied Shalini and her guests to the awards ceremony in London said:
“Shalini was a worthy Gold Award winner and it was great to see her being recognised for all the hard work she’s put into BTEC at her school. I actually attended one of her BTEC lessons and can I just say how overwhelmingly impressed I was with her use of technology to ensure every student was engaged, especially during their virtual field trip which involved the students putting on VR headsets. There was a real buzz in the classroom and the children confirmed to me that “Mrs Shalini makes learning fun in our BTEC lessons””.
Take a look at Shalini’s BTEC Award winner’s video story
Overall BTEC Student of the Year 2019
This year, for the first time ever, the judges awarded two BTEC Student of the Year awards; to Christopher Meredith from Leeds College of Building in the UK and to Josephine Kiaga from Braeburn International School, Arusha in Tanzania.
Josephine, who has a BTEC Subsidiary Diploma in Creative Media Production – Film and Television and a BTEC Diploma in Performing Arts – Acting, uses her media knowledge and voice to advocate justice and judges were impressed by her media production work to promote many important causes.
Not yet 18 years old, she is a Human Rights Ambassador at EAMUM, the East African Model United Nations, she’s an active member of TEDxMajengo-Arusha and she has created films to bring awareness to sexual assault, sexual abuse and FGM prevention. She has also co-organised a ‘Girls’ Empowerment’ day for girls in her community, running workshops on entrepreneurship and female hygiene among others.
Josephine says, “I love film, BTEC, vocational and practical approaches to learning. It gives me the flexibility to merge all my interests – acting, poetry and drama – with film. I found A levels too traditional and inflexible. The BTEC courses I’ve taken all blend together rather than standing as individual subjects alone.”
To no-one’s surprise, she has already been offered a job when she leaves school. Marked out as a leader of the future, she credits her success to “the trrust that I got from my teachers.”
Watch Josephine’s BTEC Award winner’s video story
BTEC Business and Enterprise Student of the Year 2019
In the individual BTEC subject categories, Ttanya Sachdev, also from Braeburn International School, Arusha in Tanzania was awarded BTEC Business and Enterprise Student of the Year 2019. Ttanya, a BTEC Business Level 3 Extended Diploma student, has completed work experience at Nissan Kenya and this year, led a group of International GCSE students in the School Enterprise Challenge which emerged top in Tanzania for an exemplary business report.
Serving as student representative and later elected Head of the School in 2018, Ttanya has organised a number of events, has helped run the school tuckshop and started a successful small business selling confectionery, applying the principles she learned during her BTEC to market and manage her business.
Her biggest success to date has been to co-organise a female empowerment forum with fellow students Nicole Kombe and Josephine Kiaga where they trained 200 girls on entrepreneurship, self-esteem and health.
Ttanya says. “Throughout my BTEC I’ve had the opportunity to successfully organise fireworks night, fun days, a charity sisterhood workshop with the local community and the Christmas community party. I enjoyed managing a whole team of students and workers using the skills I learned during my BTEC.”
See you at the BTEC Awards 2020?
Well done and congratulations to all of our BTEC Awards 2019 winners – we look forward to seeing what 2020 will bring!
See the full list of winners and photographs from this year’s BTEC Awards along with information on how to nominate your outstanding students and teachers for next year’s awards.
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