18 June is National Thank a Teacher Day – our annual celebration of teachers and support staff and all those within our school communities who make such a difference to the lives and opportunities of young people. Here at the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education, we pay tribute to the inspiration work of all teachers, but especially those in our Beacon and Quality Mark schools. You go the extra mile to ensure students learn about the Holocaust with equal measure of care and intellectual rigour. We are so proud to engage with such teachers in the sustained and long-term way that our Beacon programme facilitates, supporting your growth as leaders in the field. It is a privilege for us to work with teachers like you, from across the country, you colleagues, TAs, senior leaders and support staff, who collectively work with such dedication and commitment towards provision for and experience of quality Holocaust T&L opportunities. Despite the many and ongoing challenges in education, and in wider society, it is educators that make a difference, each and every day. We thankyou all – but would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to two of our alumni community…

It’s the end of an era for Highfields School this summer as their much loved and respected Headteacher, Mr Graham Tate, leaves his school-based post to concentrate on his duties as CEO of the growing Lykos Trust.  Mr Tate, who joined Highfields in 2004, has been headteacher for ten years, and during that time he has overseen the establishment and evolution of the Lykos Trust, a growing, local Wolverhampton trust in which Highfields is the lead school. The trust, which currently includes Highfields and three primary schools, will continue to thrive under his leadership. Mr Tate has cultivated a strong ethos at Highfields, one which thrives on the values of truth, honesty, tolerance and respect. It was no surprise therefore that he has been a strong advocate for, and nominated himself the SLT link, to their UCL Beacon School Programme, a journey which began in September 2022 and continues to grow and thrive today. He was a key part in securing the school’s Quality Mark status in June 2024 and has continued to support lead teacher Jemma Tappenden in securing opportunity and visibility for the important work the programme has inspired. As a school, colleagues are excited to welcome our new headteacher, Mr Simon Cope, who very much embodies the core values of Highfields, and has implemented some exciting student focused initiatives at his current school. We join Lead Teacher, Jemma Tappenden and colleagues, in recognising the enduring commitment and legacy of Graham’s time as Highfield’s Head, and are incredibly grateful that as CEO of the trust, he has extended his commitment to being SLT lead for Highfield’s Beacon work – we know that he will advocate these principles across the trust and we wish Mr Cope all the best as he takes up his post from September, we look forward to working with him.

Likewise, it is all change at Oakmoor School as their long-serving Head of Humanities looks forward to retirement. Having spent 22 years in teaching, in a second career, Oakmoor’s Beacon School Lead Teacher and Quality Mark alumni Anne Sutehall will, this July, leave the classroom for the final time. We extend Anne every good wish for her retirement:  it is an important moment to extend our profound thanks and appreciation to you for everything you have done over those years. The investment you have made in your profession has had immeasurable impact on the lives of young people and provided you with a host of those “warm glow moments” that only teachers ever get to experience. It was our great pleasure to work with you on your Beacon Schools journey, and you should be very proud of the expertise you developed in this challenging subject area, as evidenced in the 2023 Quality Mark report. The foundations Anne laid (through hard work and determination) at Oakmoor are sound and solid, especially around ‘curriculum connectives’ and the bold and impactful scheme of learning booklet will endure and evolve. The Centre will be delighted to help support Oakmoor colleagues going forward in whatever way we can, to both honour Anne’s legacy, but also ensure the work continues to innovate and reflect the community and young people you serve.

The teacher workforce evolves and contracts as teachers move roles, schools, leave teaching for a new challenge and others reach retirement – all the time – but it feels important ahead of Thank a Teacher Day to pause in tribute to two of our community of practice who given so much of themselves to our shared endeavour. In coming newsletters, we will endeavour to recognise colleagues reaching various milestones in their careers or practice, sharing something of their journeys… but today, a special thankyou to Anne and Graham. We wish you both the very, very best.