Meet the teachers and schools changing children’s lives in east London

Sue Thompson, of Redden Court School in Harold Wood, and Kateryna Konstantynova, of Malmesbury Primary School in Bow, have been honoured in the Pearson National Teaching Awards.

Both were given a silver award, which means they will now be shortlisted to win one of 16 gold awards due to be announced in November.

Two east London schools also received a silver award – New City Primary School in Plaistow and Lansbury Lawrence Primary School in Poplar.

Here we take a look at the winners in more detail.

Kateryna Konstantynova – Teacher of the Year in a Primary School

Kateryna Konstantynova, Malmesbury Primary School in Bow (Image: Pearson National Teaching Awards)

Kateryna teaches year 6 students at Malmesbury Primary School in Bow, and has lived in Romford for almost 17 years.

She is the English-lead at Malmesbury, helping to catapult the school to higher-than-average boroughwide and nationwide results.

The primary school teacher offers a weekly reading breakfast club outside her school time to encourage families to come in and read with their children over a free breakfast.

Sue Thompson – Lifetime Achievement

Sue Thompson, Redden Court School in Harold Wood (Image: Pearson National Teaching Awards)

Sue Thompson has been a teacher at Redden Court School in Harold Wood for almost four decades.

The secondary school teacher retired at the end of this academic year, and has been described by colleagues as “an incredible servant to education”.

Sue was part of the senior leadership team at Redden Court, which was rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted in 2022.

Another colleague said that Sue was a “fantastic ambassador for lovely, kind people across the world”.

New City Primary School – Primary School of the Year

New City Primary School in Plaistow (Image: Pearson National Teaching Awards)

Despite the fact many pupils enter this school in Plaistow with developmental levels far below their age, Year 6 students leave with SATs results above local and national standards.

Having been graded as ‘requires improvement’ by Ofsted seven years ago, the school was recently upgraded to ‘outstanding’ in all areas.

There are 28 after-school clubs and a summer school funded by Nike, open for three weeks in summer to vulnerable and key worker families.

Lansbury Lawrence Primary School

Lansbury Lawrence Primary School in Poplar (Image: Pearson National Teaching Awards)

This Poplar primary school is renowned nationally for its commitment to the arts, Pearson’s website said.

It has a partnership with a local care home, allowing children and residents to interact during mutual learning projects.

Pupils enjoy weekly forest school lessons, as well as fully-funded trips and free weekly music lessons.

Lansbury Lawrence is the first school in Tower Hamlets to be awarded Artsmark Platinum, the highest rating for creative quality standards in schools.