St Albans Catholic teacher wins top award

Tanya Angus - an inspiring teacher

As the summer holidays approach, one school has an extra cause for celebration this year. Mrs Tanya Angus, Acting Head of PE at Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School in St Albans has won the Hertfordshire Teacher of the Year Award.

Tanya joined the school in 2005 with the remit to develop PE and school sport to ensure that pupils have at least two hours of quality sport every week. She also ensures that teachers receive professional training and she delivers workshops for the Youth Sports Trust. She has worked with more than 35 schools in St Albans and Harpenden.

As a result of Tanya’s efforts the school has been awarded Gold status from the Youth Sports Trust - an award for outstanding PE and support opportunities. In a statement the school says: "She is a natural organiser and has boundless amounts of energy, passion and enthusiasm for her vocation, which is to transform the lives of a whole range of pupils through PE and school sport, delivered well and on a regular basis."

Tanya is currently Acting Head of PE at Nicholas Breakspear where she has introduced a leadership academy with Year 9 girls who help to run competitions to gain a national qualification for coaching awards in different sports which lead to apprenticeships and eventual careers.

She has made a link with a school in Segale, South Africa, with pupils travelling there to practise leadership skills.

Tanya has enabled both Oaklands College and Nicholas Breakspear School to gain the use of the Olympic logo and become members of the Get Set network. A number of Olympic athletes have visited the school as well as the 1950s Olympic torch.

As part of the school’s Activities Week she has organised an Olympic-themed day where Year 8 choose from a range of cultural and sporting activities including dancing, steel band, mask making and Jamaican cooking, as well as archery, fencing, rowing, skateboarding, extreme golf and Rocketball (which is a bit like Lacrosse) These
activities are all led by experts within their field.

“The sports activity day was great, we all enjoyed ourselves. I learned how to play different sports that never had heard of. Also the cooking was amazing we were making Jamaican patties. Rocketball was difficult to learn but when you get the hang of it is very enjoyable and fun. I was shocked when I discovered that for the archery we were taught by a GB athlete she was very helpful and my aiming got much better. I really enjoyed the day, it went so quick!” said Terrence, a Year 8 student.

Tanya does a huge amount of work with local sports clubs, the St Albans Sports Development team and the district council. She was also at the Herts County Show running a stall with the Herts Sports partnership informing young people about sports opportunities within the community and also helps with the St Albans half marathon on a regular basis, as a marshal.

Her colleagues say: "We feel Tanya deserves the title Teacher of the Year as she really does extra go that extra mile to support pupils, rewarding their flair, commitment (in and out of school time) and talent."