Primary school teacher wins 'trip of a lifetime'

Gavin being congratulated by the Mayor of Rotherham Cllr Eve Rose Keenan, her consort Pat Keenan and pupils (L-R): Alice Felvus, Libby Smallman, Jack Finnie and Finley Walsh

Gavin Sharp (43), a teacher at St Bede’s Catholic Primary School, Kimberworth, will fly out to the University of North Carolina in July for the Discovery Education Summer Institute after impressing judges with his video about how he uses Discovery’s software to teach IT.

Gavin uses an educational programme developed by Discovery - which is best known for its TV channel - in his lessons as a tool to teach coding.

He entered a competition run by Discovery Education which offered five teachers and senior leaders in the UK the chance to attend its five-day Summer Institute.

Gavin, who has worked at St Bede’s for five years, submitted an application and a two-minute video about how he uses technology, such as virtual reality, in his lessons.

A week later, he heard he had been picked as one of the winners and said it would be “the opportunity of a lifetime”.

Gavin said: “Hopefully, I will come back armed with more ideas and tricks for teaching IT.

“I think it’s fair to say that as we are a primary school, by the time our pupils get to working age there will be brand new jobs that will be available that haven’t been thought of yet.

“Anything that helps them prepare at this age is absolutely essential.”

Gavin, of Kimberworth, is also part of a global education programme run by Apple which supports schools which use its products and was also invited to a conference in Texas during the same week.

But the teacher said he chose to go to the Discovery event as he might never get another chance to attend.

To watch Gavin’s application video visit https://bit.ly/2HuHWJy.