Solihull Academy classroom assistant wins TES School Award - The Solihull Observer

Solihull Academy classroom assistant wins TES School Award

Solihull Editorial 30th Jun, 2021   0

A CLASSROOM assistant in a Solihull school has been handed a top award.

Becky Marie Williams from Solihull Academy alternative provision won the classroom support assistant of the year category at the Tes Schools Awards.

This year has revealed the valuable and often hidden work that classroom assistants do in keeping schools running and facilitating the very best teaching and learning, as well as supporting pupils’ wellbeing.

Becky attended an alternative provision (AP) setting as a teenager and has worked tirelessly over the past year as a classroom assistant at Solihull AP.




AP settings are places that provide education for children who can’t go to a mainstream school and Becky’s own experience has been a real strength in empathising with pupils.

She has kept in touch with year 9, and their parents and carers, through food drops and home visits, to maintain incredibly positive relationships with them during the lockdowns.


Through one-to-one work, corridor chats and mentoring, she has helped pupils to feel secure in themselves, and the students and groups she has supported have flourished as a result of her input.

Rob Webster was the lead judge for this category and is the director of the Maximising the Impact of Teaching Assistants (MITA) project and a researcher at UCL Institute of Education.

He said: “Having attended an AP as a teenager, Becky is an authentic role model for the young people at Solihull AP.

“She is clearly an inspiration to staff as well as students.

“The support she provided to students and families during lockdown exemplifies the valuable, though often hidden, contribution teaching assistants have made during pandemic.”

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