UNISON’S STARS IN OUR SCHOOLS 2022
School support staff across Worcestershire will be recognised on Friday 25th November 2022 as part of a UK-wide celebration of the invaluable contribution they make to the education of pupils.
UNISON has organised the 'Stars in our Schools' event to promote the wonderful work school support staff do every day, and to make sure the world knows just how vital they are to every school.
Information was sent out to 260 schools in Worcestershire inviting nominations for entries to our competition. We had the largest volume of nominations that we have ever received for this competition and deciding on the winners was a difficult task.
From all the nominations we selected four winners who all showed commitment to their roles, exceptional personalities and supportive to the pupils and colleagues they work with.
Our winner's this year were;
Mrs Constantinou and Mrs Clarke from Northwick Manor Primary School
Emily Eastwood from Baxter College
Sandra Gomes from Fort Royal Community Primary School
The winners attended a presentation at "The Hive" library in Worcester on Friday 25th November, along with Mayor Adrian Gregson, Branch Secretary Jane Evans, Schools Rep Dickie Plumb, and Branch Organiser Ida Patrone, who organised the event and prizes.
Riversides School also held their own event to thank all of their support staff for their excellent work. The staff were awarded with a gifts from UNISON and their school.
"This annual UK-wide celebration day is a great opportunity for pupils, parents and teachers to promote the work of their support staff and thank them for their outstanding contribution.
"School support staff are so often the unsung heroes in our schools and play an integral part of the education of young people. Their roles are incredibly diverse, from cooks, cleaners and caretakers to family support advisers, examinations staff and school business managers. They play a vital role in every aspect of school life and without them schools could not run.
“This year has really highlighted just how important support staff are to keeping schools up and running. Many were on site during lockdown making sure the buildings were deep cleaned, sourcing and installing the large numbers of extra facilities and signage to support a safe return, supporting the children of key workers, ensuring that no child entitled to a free school meal went hungry and keeping IT systems running to enable schools to keep in contact with their pupils.”
* The union represents about 250,000 school support workers across the UK, which include caretakers, cleaners, school cooks, catering assistants, lunchtime supervisors, admin and finance staff, data managers, examinations staff, school business professionals, teaching assistants, classroom assistants, learning support assistants, cover supervisors, nursery nurses, library assistants, librarians, network managers, ICT technicians, food technicians, science technicians, design and technology technicians, attendance officers, family support advisers, learning mentors, school crossing patrol officers.
Please contact Ida Patrone at IPatrone@unisonworcestershire.co.uk for photos of the events.
