Alumna wins UK Parliament Week Award
Newly qualified teacher Joanne Pedelty achieves gold teacher ambassador status and wins UK Parliament Activity of the Year.
One of the speakers on Joanne's Primary Education PGCE course was led by the Parliament Education Service. This inspired Joanne to apply for the UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador Programme, where she achieved gold teacher ambassador status and won UK Parliament Activity of the Year.
After a career change in her thirties, Joanne started her 10 year journey to achieving qualified teacher status (QTS) culminating in the completion of the Primary Education PGCE at the University in 2019. Joanne began working as a lunchtime supervisor at a local infant school, she then volunteered in classes and was inspired to complete a Teaching Assistant qualification, followed by a foundation degree and top-up degree in Education at Rotherham College. During this time Joanne progressed to working as a Higher Level Teaching Assistant and then unqualified teacher. Achieving QTS was the natural progression route for Joanne, rewarding her hardwork of training and learning whilst “on-the-job” in school.
"I was hesitant before commencing my PGCE at Huddersfield as it was going to be my first experience of a big university. However, I soon realised I was in good hands and I took the advice of my tutor Liz Zsargo to "trust the process". I was part of an amazing cohort and met people from all areas of the primary sector. The workload was manageable and the support was unwavering."
Joanne spoke to Toby Foster on BBC Sheffield about the Ambassador Programme
On Joanne's PGCE course, external speakers ran sessions including a talk led by the Parliament Education Service. This introduced Joanne to the UK Parliament Teacher Ambassador Programme, which connects communities to the UK Parliament and democracy. Joanne applied for the programme and was thrilled when she received the email confirming that she'd been offered one of the 70 places.
The training for the programme took place over three days in London, including tours of the various Parliament facilities, a Q&A with John Bercow (Speaker of the House), talks by MPs including Tracy Brabin (MP for Batley and Spen) and talks with teacher ambassadors who'd completed the programme. Joanne said "The impact of the programme upon my studies and my setting has been incredible."
UK Parliament Teacher Ambassadors programmeJoanne achieved gold teacher ambassador status through hosting events, sharing training with her peers and providing learning to students, for example through assemblies. Joanne led a restructure of her school's democracy system to include a House of Lords (former school councillors) and House of Commons made up of class MPs.
Joanne also planned her school's programme for UK Parliament Week, which takes place in November. Joanne's school delivered activities to children across the school from ages 2-19, covering topics including British values, the role of Parliament and democracy. Joanne and her colleagues turned the school's sensory room into London for a day, with Big Ben projected on the walls, background traffic noise, water sprays representing the River Thames and more. Joanne said "The children loved hearing John Bercow calling the house to "order"." Other activities included counting votes in maths, writing manifestos in literacy, and learning about the Gunpowder Plot and Suffragette movement in history.
Joanne's school submitted their programme for a UK Parliament Week Award and were delighted to win UK Parliament Activity of the Year, which recognises the work of those who made an outstanding contribution to UK Parliament Week. The award was selected by a panel of MPs, peers and independent judges. Joanne will be going down to London for the awards in October. Joanne said "Winning the award is such a proud achievement for me and the school. It's funny to think it started with a guest lecture on my PGCE course at Huddersfield."
Kelford Special School was awarded UK Parliament Activity of the Year with Joanne's school programme for UK Parliament Week.
Joanne with the children at Kelford Special School. Kelford Special School is an all age school (age 2 to 19) for those with severe and complex needs. The school is passionate about providing the best quality of education and care for all their pupils.