Warrington Teacher’s Surprise National Award

There’s something rather brilliant about winning a national award and having absolutely no idea who put your name forward.

But that’s exactly what happened to Jenny George, a history and politics teacher at Priestley College in Warrington, who was recently named Inclusive Tutor of the Year at the National Student Pride Awards in London.

And yes, she’s still walking down the corridors wondering who it was.

Jenny’s been at Priestley for ten years now — but her connection to the place goes back much further. She went there as a student, grew up in Warrington, and came back to teach.

She’s a pastoral head, one of the college’s Equality and Diversity leads, and the driving force behind Priestley achieving the Rainbow Flag Award, a nationally recognised quality mark for LGBTQ+ inclusion.

When I asked her about the moment her name was called out, she was wonderfully honest about it.

“I was really happy just to be at the event,” she told me. “I’ve got two young kids at home, so it’s quite nice to be just on a trip with my husband down to London and enjoy a night at an awards show. So it was a really lovely icing on the cake when they read my name out.”

What makes this award so special is that it came from a student nomination.

Jenny didn’t apply for it, didn’t campaign for it, didn’t even know it was happening. A student looked at the support they’d received and thought — she deserves this.

And that support clearly runs deep. Jenny talked about watching students arrive at Priestley shy and withdrawn, barely contributing to class discussions, and leaving two years later standing at the front delivering presentations.

“That’s a really, really lovely moment,” she said, “when students not only acknowledge to themselves how they’re feeling but actually feel empowered and brave enough to tell other people.”

Her philosophy is simple but powerful. “It’s my job to look after any student that walks into my classroom,” she said. “Education should be somewhere that everybody feels safe. Regardless of what’s going on in the wider world, education should be somewhere that’s a little bit protected from that, where students feel like they can be themselves.”

Jenny’s message for any young person listening was equally clear.

While there’s a lot of negativity out there, particularly online, the vast majority of people in education want to help. “Students should talk and they should find one member of staff that they feel comfortable to talk to,” she said. “It can be one small conversation, it can be a knock on the door, but it can really, truly open up so many different conversations and access to so much good support that’s out there.”

And how did she celebrate?

Well, after a little dance at the student awards night, Jenny and her husband slipped off to a proper old-fashioned London pub. “It felt like we’d left the 21st century behind,” she laughed.

Can’t argue with that!

Congratulations, Jenny. Priestley — and Warrington — should be very proud.