Scottish Catholic Observer

A teacher from a Catholic primary school in Hamilton has seen off competition from more than 20,000 others to be crowned UK Teacher of the Year.

Christine Emmett, who has been teaching at St Elizabeth’s Primary School for 27 years, was presented with the award at a ceremony in London on Sunday October 30.

After coming home to warm congratulations from the school community at the beginning of last week, Mrs Emmett returned to London last Wednesday to have tea with Prime Minister David Cameron.

Celebration

Speaking of her trip to Downing Street Mrs Emmett said it was ‘an honour’ to be there.

“The Prime Minister was charming and very appreciative of education,” she said.

Keen to ensure that her pupils gained their own enjoyment from the Downing Street visit, Mrs Emmett helped them write special questions for Mr Cameron’s cat, Larry and the pupils were delighted to receive Larry postcards from the Prime Minister, which Mrs Emmett brought back to the classroom for them to see.

Although she greatly enjoyed the ceremony and meeting the Prime Minister at Downing Street, Mrs Emmett said she is most at home amongst her colleagues at St Elizabeth’s and making sure her P3/4 pupils gain as much as they can from lessons.

“The pupils sang a song for me when I returned to school,” Mrs Emmett said. “We are always singing songs in the classroom!”

Nominated for the award by Martin Smith, a pupil at St Elizabeth’s, Mrs Emmett won the Scottish Teacher of the Year Award in June and judges visited the school a further two times to watch Mrs Emmett at work.

They were impressed with her practical approach to teaching that has seen her invite a cake shop owner into the classroom to explain to pupils how weights and measurements work as well as a car salesman to the school to help children with maths.

When the SCO spoke to Mrs Emmett her pupils had just returned from a trip to the woods, where they enjoyed a tour with the local Rangers.

“I try to involve the children in the lessons and make learning as fun for them as possible,” she said.

School reaction

St Elizabeth’s headteacher Elizabeth Bradshaw, who accompanied her colleague to London for the ceremony, was delighted to see Mrs Emmett win the award.

“The award is well deserved,” Ms Bradshaw said. “Christine is inexhaustible and she is such a great colleague. Everybody in the whole community is delighted for her.”

A parishioner of Our Lady and St Anne’s Church in Hamilton, Mrs Emmett stressed the importance of bringing her Catholic Faith into teaching and spoke positively of the new curriculum for excellence and the This is Our Faith RE document, which was launched for Scottish primary and secondary schools on Monday.

“I find that when inspectors come to visit, they always highlight the warmth and friendship they experience at our Catholic schools,” Mrs Emmett said.

Church support

Mgr Thomas O’Hare, parish priest at Our Lady and St Anne’s Church, congratulated Mrs Emmett on winning her award and emphasised the quality and dedication of Catholic education in the local area.

“Mrs Emmett is a bundle of energy and it was tremendous for her to win the award,” Mgr O’Hare said. “We are blessed with the quality of Catholic education at the schools in our parish [St Elizabeth’s and Our Lady and St Anne’s Primary Schools] and the whole ethos of the schools oozes catholicity.”

Pic: Tom Eadie