State-school teachers win awards after being nominated by law students

Roman Kenny-Manning (a first-year Law with German Law student) and Lewis Davies (who will start his Law course in October) nominated their school teachers for Oxford University Inspirational Teachers Awards. Roman nominated Claire Hurst of The Lancaster Academy in Leicester, and Lewis nominated Steve Jolley of The FitzWimarc School in Rayleigh, Essex. Claire and Steve are 2 of 10 winners who will receive an Inspirational Teachers Award this year.

The Inspirational Teachers Awards are a way of recognising the importance of school or college teachers in encouraging talented students to realise their potential and make a successful application to Oxford. Each year, first-year Oxford undergraduates from UK state schools or colleges with a limited history of sending students to Oxford are asked if they would like to nominate an inspirational teacher. 

As part of his nomination Roman wrote;

Ms Hurst embodies what it means to be a teacher: kind, nurturing, ambitious … inspiring. In a school environment which was extremely rare for students to even think about studying at somewhere like Oxford, Ms Hurst often firmly made me realise that I had the potential to achieve something special.

Lewis wrote in his nomination;

Steve's belief in me was infectious. He would push and expect more from me than I knew possible... He is the teacher of teachers. He should be awarded because he did not just go above and beyond what is expected of a teacher, but because he went above and beyond what it means to be a good human being.

All the winning teachers and their nominating students will attend an awards ceremony held by University of Oxford at Worcester College on 17 May 2019. 

Congratulations to Claire and Steve, and many thanks to Roman and Lewis for taking the time to tell us about their inspiring teachers. 

More information about this year’s winning teachers and their students can be found on the University's website.