Rewards of up to £100 are given every term to school staff in recognition of the contribution made to school life and supporting pupils and families. Schools can nominate one member of staff per year. The following incredible people received awards of £100 each during the Spring term 2025: Charlotte Frazer - Southmead Primary School, Braunton
Charlotte Frazer, Teaching Assistant and PE Meal Time Assistant at Southmead Primary School, Braunton, North Devon. Charlotte was nominated by her Headteacher and explains how rewarding she finds her role as a Teaching Assistant: “Being a teaching assistant is one of the most fulfilling and rewarding roles, where the children always come first. Every day, I have the privilege of guiding and supporting them, not only in their academic learning but also in their emotional and social development. My role is built on kindness, patience, and understanding, ensuring that each child feels valued and supported in their journey. A vital part of my role is working with children who have special educational needs (SEN), including those with dyslexia, ADHD, and autism. I provide tailored support to help them overcome challenges and build confidence in their abilities. I also support Afghan children in learning English, understanding British culture, and embracing their new environment while respecting and celebrating their own traditions. Beyond the classroom, I offer emotional support to children on the playground, ensuring they feel safe, included, and happy. I also extend this support to families, working closely with parents to help children thrive both at school and at home. Whether a child is struggling academically, emotionally, or socially, I am always there to provide encouragement and reassurance. Working in a busy school environment means being part of a strong, supportive team. I understand the importance of teamwork and reliability, ensuring I never let my team down. The ability to adapt quickly is essential, as each day brings new challenges—whether stepping into a different classroom, assisting with different year groups, or responding to unexpected situations. Above all, I remain positive and motivated, always striving to be the best I can be for the children. I aim to instill strong morals, resilience, and a love for learning in every child I support, helping to shape them into kind, confident individuals ready for the future.” Charlotte’s Headteacher said the following: “Charlotte always goes above and beyond for staff, trainees and most of all our children and their families. Nothing is ever too much. She has undertaken training off her own back (as well as directed) which has made significant impact to the progress of our children - especially in Phonics. The children always come first and she will scoop them up to support their pastoral and social and emotional needs as well as their academics. She has worked with Trainee Teachers and Teaching Assistants and always offers them support. As I said before, nothing is ever too much. Like everyone, she has a lot going on but that does not affect her at work and she gives 100% to everything she does. Thank you Charlotte - you are a star!” Tina Elder, St Peter's CE Primary School, Budleigh Salterton
Tina Elder, Meal Time Assistant at St Peter’s CE Primary School, Budleigh Salterton. Tina was nominated by her Headteacher, who said: “Tina goes above and beyond in her role as a mealtime assistant, making a huge difference to our school. At Christmas, she sews costumes for pupils who don’t have one. When the kitchen is short-staffed, she steps in without hesitation. She bakes for every school fundraiser and always contributes to PTA events. She never seeks recognition—she just gives her time, skills, and kindness to help others. Tina is truly an unsung hero, and we are so grateful for everything she does. She absolutely deserves this award!” Tina explained: “I love my little job at St Peter’s School. I moved to Exmouth in 2021 from Bristol to wind down and be with family. I applied for the meal time assistant role at my granddaughter’s school. I love seeing the children and talking to them, finding out about their lives (they love to talk!). Having worked in catering all my life, I often help out and cover in the school kitchen too. I love baking and make cakes for as many bake sales as I can. I like to help out in any way and being able to sew, I make costumes and dressing up items for classes too. When our class are looking for items, I try to source them and get what they need. I haven’t got a lot of money but I have skills and time to offer, which I try to do. It’s a lovely school, staff are amazing but many resources are lacking so helping in any way is always good. I retire soon but hope to continue at the school while my health allows. Thank you once again.” Rebecca Haswell, Exwick Heights Primary School, Exeter
Rebecca Haswell, Teacher, Exwick Heights Primary School, Exeter. Rebecca was nominated by her Headteacher, who explained: “She is a true ray of sunshine at Exwick Heights. She rallies her team with enthusiasm and warmth, ensuring that everyone feels valued and supported. Her dedication to the children in her class is unwavering - she works tirelessly to provide them with the very best opportunities, always putting their needs first.” Megan Nahavandi-Pour, St George’s CE Primary School, Plymouth
Megan Nahavandi-Pour, Higher Level Teaching Assistant, Deputy Designated Safeguarding Lead, Inclusion Lead and Family Support Worker at St George’s CE Primary School, Plymouth. Megan explains her role at St George's CE Primary School in Plymouth: “I am the Family Support Worker, DDSL, HLTA, Inclusion Lead and PE Ambassador at St George's CE Primary School. We're a small inclusive school with a village feel, located in the heart of Plymouth city. I support families with accessing services across Plymouth and hold community events with a range of organisations to help build on our local connections. I am passionate about being active for the benefit of our children’s health and well-being. We hold a field gun, running club, young carer and military club, this helps children build on life skills such as resilience, perseverance and team work to name a few.” Megan was nominated by her Headteacher, who said: “Meg is simply fabulous! No task is too much for her and she goes above and beyond for the children and families at our school. Meg is approachable, non-judgmental and engenders trust from those she supports. Meg is solution focused and has really creative ideas to reach the best conclusions. She is fully involved in the life of the school from taking children to sports events, running our military and young carers clubs and arranging fund raising events to arranging discos and other events (very often in her own time). She is upbeat and positive and has a great sense of humour. She is a colleague in a million and is genuinely a major part of what makes our school great. Thank you for everything you do Meg!” Congratulations to all those nominated this term and thank you for all the work you do to support staff, pupils and families across your school communities.
Applications are now open for our Summer term awards. More information can be found in our monthly newsletter.
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Jo also mentors children after school each day, providing them a space to experience joy and to nurture a special bond with a key adult in school. In her own time, Jo studies to improve her own knowledge, particularly around SEND and has also created some amazing art work on items being used to enhance our playground provision." About Jo and her role as Teaching Assistant Losing my job as a designer during the pandemic led me to discover a whole new passion in working with children. When I started at St. Martin's, I learned that working with children with complex needs can be incredibly rewarding and I have since focused on improving my knowledge and skills to support the children even more. I am extremely proud of this award for my work with a child with complex needs and for using my skills as an artist to benefitthe school too. When I first began working with a 5-year-old boy, I realised that I needed to find creative ways to engage him in learning. He would regularly refuse to complete tasks, so I knew I needed to think outside the box to foster a connection and encourage participation. I discovered his love for Rick Astley. Recognising this opportunity, I created "Maths by Rick Astley," combining his favourite music with the learning objectives. This approach was an instant success because it appealed to his interests and helped build rapport and make learning fun. It was a success for a while but those that work with children with Special Educational Needs know that you have to continuously be creative and come up with new ways to engage them. Despite facing many ups and downs, including periods of challenging behaviour, I worked closely with both his parents and the school to maintain open communication and ensure consistency. Through this collaborative effort, we were able to keep him in a mainstream setting where he could thrive. Our partnership lasted three years and it’s especially heart-warming that, before moving to a specialised provision, he took part in the whole school’s Sports Day. Witnessing him overcoming his fear and taking part in an event that he had never participated in before was an incredibly emotional moment for him, me and his family. That milestone is something that will stay with me for a long time. These moments are what make the job so rewarding. It’s not just about the lessons they learn academically, but the ones they learn about themselves. It’s important to approach every child with patience, creativity, and belief in their potential. St Martin’s is an environment where every child feels safe and supported and it is evident that what we do has a meaningful impact on their ability to succeed. The ‘School Staff ‘Thank You’ scheme’ is open to all Exeter Consortium partner schools as listed on our website HERE and a school can nominate one member of staff per year. To nominate a member of staff from your school please use the Google form HERE. The deadline for nominations is the last Friday before each half term break.
For information about the Exeter Consortium ‘School Staff Thank You Scheme’ please contact [email protected]  Give a little background about your teaching career so far – how many years teaching, schools, age groups, subject specialisms, leadership roles…
My teaching career began as a teaching assistant in a village primary school and now I am a Year 3 teacher in a two-form entry all through school in Exeter! Why did you want to be a teacher? I wanted to be a teacher when I met my favourite primary school teacher. I thought “I want to be just like you”. They didn’t just educate me or take me on an educational journey but they were so warm and inviting and motivated me to learn with them. I take this into my practice daily and enjoy seeing my children's faces smile when they enter my classroom or they’ve understood an objective or have independently completed a task. Why did you choose Exeter Consortium Schools’ Alliance as your training provider? I chose Exeter Consortium due to its holistic approach to teacher training. I wanted to train in the deep end! Getting into school was important to me, I am so pleased I took the SCITT route compared to University providers as I feel completely prepared as an ECT1. What were your favourite aspects of the course? My favourite aspects were simply the real life application of what we are trained to do in GPS sessions and during placement. We could instantly start implementing behaviour management techniques. The GPS sessions have really stuck with me and shaped my practice as a teacher. I also work with other ExCo alumni and the practice I see with them is shaped from ExCo. Did you find Exeter Consortium to be supportive and welcoming? 100%. I personally had life events I was not expecting but the mentors were incredibly supportive in adapting to my needs. Describe your time training to teach in three words... Fun, exciting, interesting! What advice would you give to prospective trainee teachers? Nothing will compare to this year, it is so worth pushing through to the end and reap the rewards as it only gets better! You should be really proud of yourself for taking on this challenge, it isn’t easy, but it speaks volumes about the person you will be standing in front of your class of 30. Please see below the presentations and resources from speakers who delivered at the Primary SEND Professional Community on Thursday 10th October 2024:
Alison Betts, Whole School SEND National Coordinator Update on Whole School SEND. View Alison's presentation here. Jill Lake, School Nursing Service, Devon County Council An overview of their offer and how they are currently working. View Jill's presentation here. View DCC posters here. Robyn Emmerson, Ellen Tinkham School SEN 100 Project and outreach work. View Robyn's presentation here. Kellie Knott, SEND Improvement Director at Devon County Council State of play and vision for SEND going forward with DCC. View Kellie's presentation here.
About Josie and her role as After School Club Leader, Pupil Premium Advocate and Teaching Assistant. "My name is Josie and I have been working at my school for nearly 8 years. When I first started working here, I was a 1:1 TA supporting a pupil with additional needs. Since the beginning of my journey at the school I have had fantastic support from SLT to develop my career and have managed to work my way up to be the leader of the After School Club provision. In this role I oversee and manage up to 140 children and 8 team members. I have made loads of changes to the ASC provision as the children were not enjoying their time in the club previously and I made it my priority to make sure that the children enjoy their time here and feel relaxed and comfortable as they have such a long day in school. One of my biggest achievements is revamping our old café area into a chill zone area, where I have made it similar to a home setting so the children can go there if they struggle with the busyness of the club and can go there to have that ‘feel at home feeling’ where they can relax. Our SEN children particularly enjoy this area and its close to my office so I can make regular check-ins to see how they are doing. I have also had the privilege this year to take on a new role that has not been done before which is a Pupil Premium Advocate. This role is all about how I can help our wonderful PP children have better opportunities in school by making sure they have access to clubs, mentoring, emotional literacy and more! Fortunately I still get to do 1:1 support in the middle which I really enjoy! My 3 roles come with challenges as all jobs do but I absolutely love working with children and wouldn’t change my busy schedule in school for anything! My faith drives me to do better and do more where I can. A HUGE thank you to the Exeter Consortium and to my Assistant Head who nominated me for this reward. It was a lovely surprise and am blessed and fortunate to do the job I do." The ‘School Staff ‘Thank You’ scheme’ is open to all Exeter Consortium partner schools as listed on our website HERE and a school can nominate one member of staff per year. To nominate a member of staff from your school please use the Google form HERE. The deadline for nominations is the last Friday before each half term break.
For information about the Exeter Consortium ‘School Staff Thank You Scheme’ please contact [email protected] |
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