BY
SNEHA
Our very own Ms.
Andria Zafirakou, Art and Textiles teacher of Alperton Community School, has
been shortlisted to the top 10 for the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize 2018
out of an incredible 30,000 nominations.
All ten
finalists will be invited to Dubai for the awards ceremony at the Global
Education and Skills Forum on Sunday 18 March, where the winner will be
announced live on stage.
Ms. Zafirakou has
worked at our school since 2005, which is longer than some of the students in year
7 and 8 have been born! Her dedication and commitment has seen her work her way
up from a newly qualified teacher all the way to SLT (senior leadership team).
Ms. Zafirakou is a very enthusiastic, engaging and approachable teacher. This
makes her a great person to pass on her skills and talents in teaching to all
the other staff at the school by leading on professional development, teaching
and curriculum innovation. The passion she has for teaching is also evident in
so many of our teachers at Alperton.
Every Monday,
students are lucky to finish school a littler earlier at 2.30pm. This allows them
time to attend after school clubs such as boxing, film club, rowing, cricket
and also to go to the library so they have a quiet space to do their homework.
Whilst students get to engage in extra curricular activities, of which the
school has many, teachers have the time to learn and develop as professionals,
which is led by Ms. Zafirakou.
Ms. Zafirakou is
a member of the Art department, led by Mr. Alemdar who is also an accomplished
artist. With him and the other art teachers, they have redesigned the art
curriculum to help promote inspiration. The arts and creative subjects are so important
as they reach some of our students in a way that other subjects do not,
sometimes due to accessibility and language barriers. Every year the arts are
celebrated at the end of the summer term with an amazing Art and Design Exhibition
that showcases the many talents of the students at our school. The event is
very popular and professionally curated making students feel privileged to have
their work displayed for so many people to see.
The Varkey Foundation was initially set up to help to improve the quality and standards of education for underprivileged children across the globe. They work to ensure that every child has the right to be taught by exceptional teachers and to strengthen the profession of teaching. Set up by the foundation and now in its fourth year, The Global Teacher Prize acknowledges the outstanding contribution of a phenomenal teacher by awarding them with US $1 million (approximately £717,430). It serves to celebrate and recognise the efforts and importance of educators - not only for their school and their students but also for their surrounding communities.
We, at Alperton
Community School, are immensely proud of Ms. Zafirakou for all her efforts and
contributions to the school. The school will be open to staff and students to
watch the event streamed live.
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