Miss Deirdre Scarlett
Teaching Awards 2009 Winner
The Award for Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School in Northern Ireland
Priory Integrated College Holywood (Controlled), HOLYWOOD
Deirdre has worked at Priory College for nearly 20 years, and has risen to be a member of the senior leadership team. She demonstrates excellence in all aspects of her work and regularly goes well beyond the call of duty.
She makes use of a wide range of teaching strategies, ranging from the use of ICT, to group investigations, role play and guest speakers. A common term for her among pupils is “awesome”. They understand her commitment to their learning. One said: “She is a wonderful teacher as well as a wonderful person. She will do anything for her pupils. There is no other teacher quite like her.”
As Teacher Tutor and member of the Senior Leadership Team, Deirdre has led a team of staff designing and rolling out individual learning programmes for pupils, initially in Year 8. Its aim was to ensure that all pupils at key stage 3 were exposed to a wide range of learning experiences.
As head of sixth form she regularly meets students and parents, to advise on course options, and runs extra business classes offering students additional qualifications. Deirdre also helps students set up mini-companies and organises trips to local businesses so they can gain valuable experience.
She constantly looks for relevant and stimulating programmes of study for her students, and introduced Applied Business and Applied ICT, rather than Business Studies and ICT, because she believed these subjects were more suited to her students, and offered better pathways to further education and the world of work.
Beyond the classroom Deirdre regularly participates in the Year 9 three-day residential at Killyleigh Outdoor Pursuits Centre, and organises the parents' association evening trips to the theatre.
A colleague said: “Deirdre is the most dedicated teacher I have come across in my 32 years in the teaching profession. She is an expert teacher, a supportive colleague, a leader and mentor and completely committed, reliable and dependable.”
Judges said she “thoroughly deserved” recognition by the Teaching Awards.
