A REDDITCH teacher has said he is ‘completely speechless’ after being nominated for a Worcestershire Education Award.

Mark Abbott, a year three and four teacher at St George’s C of E First School, has been nominated for teacher of the year.

Mark, who has been teaching for 15 years, was nominated by Tarryn Golding, who has recently moved to Redditch.

“Mr Abbot deserves to win this award as he made us feel welcome and helped my son settle into the new school very quickly,” said Tarryn.

“We had just moved to Redditch in August 2020 during the pandemic and my son has special needs and was undergoing assessments at the time.

“In his previous school he never felt like he belonged but with Mr Abbott he felt like he finally belonged somewhere and couldn't wait to go to school.

“He took the time to make sure my son understood the work that was set out for him in class as he struggles to understand certain tasks.

“If my son became fidgety or frustrated, he made his needs in that moment were met and supported him which is difficult to do when you have 15 other children in class.

“He is a very humble person, and I would often say thank you and he would quickly say you don't need to, but I do because he changed my sons life.”

In response to the nomination, Mark, who is also the maths lead at St George's, said: “I am totally speechless, im genuinely touched.

“I am very fortunate that I have one of the best jobs in the world.

“It sounds like a cliche but I’m just doing my job.

“I don’t think I am doing any more or any less that of the teachers at St George’s. We all do it because we care.”

We have once again teamed up with The University of Worcester to repeat our Education Awards across all of our titles - Worcester News, Redditch Advertiser, Bromsgrove Advertiser, The Shuttle, and Evesham Journal - which recognises and celebrates the hard work, passion, quality and dedication of our educational establishments in Worcestershire.

Nominations can be made by visiting the awards section on the Advertiser website to submit suggestions in one of the categories which range from Headteacher of the Year to Lockdown Hero.

If your business or organisation is interested in sponsoring one of the awards contacts dale.godliman@newsquest.co.uk