Queen’s Birthday Honours 2014: education and children's services

16 Jun 2014 12:10 PM

Queen’s Birthday Honours recognise the contribution of teachers, foster parents and carers. 

More than 90 people are today recognised for their service to education, children and families in the 2014 Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Six of those involved in education received knighthoods or damehoods, while nine have been given the British Empire Medal, a historic award revived for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

Chris Wormald, Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education, said:

Congratulations to everyone working across the gamut of education and children’s services who have had their endeavours recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. Their impressive contribution is helping every child realise their potential, regardless of their background or circumstances.

Those honoured today include teachers, carers and foster parents from across England.

Susan Stamp, of South Ockendon, Essex, is awarded a British Empire Medal for services to education.

A former primary teacher at Bonnygate Primary School, in South Ockendon, her colleagues say she is convinced that any child, irrespective of their home circumstances, can thrive if shown love, trust and belief.

She put this into practice by spending countless hours before, during and after school, coaching young people and building up their confidence and self-esteem.

While teaching she took her Grade 1 violin exam alongside her pupils in order to demonstrate to them her own aspirations for self-improvement.

Retiring in 2008 to care for her mother, she returned to the school in 2010 to teach and mentor pupils voluntarily.

Andrew Carter, of Tilford, Surrey, is knighted for services to education.

As headteacher of South Farnham School for the last 24 years, Mr Carter has helped make it one of the best schools in England. Almost every single one of its pupils has achieved at least the expected level in both English and maths for the last five years.

In 2010 he became a national leader of education and the school was designated a national support school. Since then he has helped improve more than 20 schools. Many of the teachers Mr Carter has recruited have gone on to become outstanding teachers and headteachers themselves.

He is also chair of the Primary Academies Group in Surrey, supporting schools to convert to academies. He has written ‘School to Academy’, a guide to the conversion process.

Barry Day, of Cropwell Bishop, Nottinghamshire, is knighted for services to education.

As chief executive of the Greenwood Dale Foundation Trust (GDFT), Barry has experience managing 21 open academies. Prior to this he was the headteacher of Greenwood Dale School from 1991 to 2009.

GDFT specialises in taking on challenging projects, including sponsoring Sinfin Community School, in Derby.

He was appointed a National Leader in Education in 2007 and was awarded anOBE that year. He ran the SSAT’s aspirant headteachers programme for six years, helping 1,800 aspirant senior leaders to become successful headteachers.

Miriam and Victor Bennett, of Leeds, Yorkshire, are appointed MBEs for services to children and families.

Over more than 40 years, the Bennetts have fostered hundreds of children, including those on short- and long-term stays, and emergency and pre-fostering children. Many of the children, now grown up, return to the Bennetts for visits with their own families.

In 2007 Mrs Bennett was named Carer of the Year at the Pride of Britain Awards and also received a Local Heroes Pride of our Nation award from ITV Yorkshire. Ruth Diver, of Sheringham, Norfolk, is made an MBE for services to education after teaching at a special school for severely disabled children for nearly 40 years.

At Sheringham Woodfields School, she teaches children with severe learning difficulties or autism. She also runs and personally subsidises school trips and raises funds for the school.

She has raised more than £100,000 for Friends of Woodfields, which pays for extra equipment for the school’s pupils. Her colleagues say she constantly strives to achieve the best possible outcomes for her pupils, who face major barriers to their achievement.

Beth Smith, of York, North Yorkshire, is made an MBE for services to education.

For the past 7 years Beth has taught and inspired early years special educational needs pupils at the Forest School in Knaresborough, North Yorkshire. Beth has also been an outreach worker for autism for North Yorkshire County Council, supporting mainstream schools within the county to educate students with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD)

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