PE teacher, Hannah Whitfield, has been awarded the Dallaglio RugbyWorks Teacher of the Year Award for her work with young people at Mayesbrook Park School in Barking and Dagenham.
The Dallaglio Foundation, founded by former England rugby player, Lawrence Dallaglio in 2009, engages young people through the power of sport, giving them the means and inspiration to change their lives for the better.
Hannah discovered she had won the award during a virtual awards ceremony hosted by Lawrence Dallaglio and Zenna Hopson.
Before revealing that Hannah had won the award, Lawrence Dallaglio said: “This individual has been supportive of RugbyWorks from day one.
“Thanks to her support, we have started to deliver outside of school hours, keeping more students engaged.
“This individual was also the very first teacher to support in the delivery of our online mentoring sessions, helping her students to start their Leaderships in Sports Qualifications course.”
Executive Headteacher of Mayesbrook Park School, Annie Blackmore, said: “We are delighted that Hannah’s achievements have been recognised.
“She is incredibly passionate about her role and recognises the influence that sport can have on young people’s lives.”
Hannah, born in Barking, was inspired by her sports coach as a youngster and is determined to support the young people she works with to change their lives through sport. She joined Mayesbrook Park school as a teaching assistant and opted to train to become a teacher there.
She is incredibly passionate about her role and recognises the influence that sport can have on young people’s lives.
On how it felt to be named Teacher of the Year, Hannah said: “It still feels surreal to have won this award; I feel so privileged to be on this journey.
“It’s more about what it means for my students; they’re able to take part in something they haven’t been able to before.
“I cannot thank RugbyWorks enough for giving me this opportunity to let my students know what it’s like to work with other organisations and mentors; they can use sport and the skills they learn to help them in all other areas of their life, and that is what I want for them.”
Councillor Evelyn Carpenter, Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement, said: “Congratulations to Hannah, this is tremendous news and a great accolade for the borough.
“I’d like to thank her for the hard work she puts in daily to give our young people the best possible opportunities.”
The award isn’t the first time Hannah has had her work recognised. Last year, she was shortlisted for the prestigious TES ‘New Teacher of the Year Award’.
Nine in ten schools in Barking and Dagenham are rated ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted. Parents wishing to find the most recent Ofsted inspection report for their child’s school can visit the Ofsted website.