St Mary’s Students Awarded National Scholarships

Students at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham have, collectively, been awarded £100,000 to support them through their teacher training this year. Five PGCE Secondary students were each chosen to receive a £20,000 National Teacher Training Scholarship to support them throughout their studies at St Mary’s, helping them not only with their fees, but also providing valuable support and mentoring, along with networking opportunities. George Draganov (Chemistry), Susan Mayes (Chemistry), Rachel Martin (Physics), Sinead Rafferty (Mathematics), and Mateusz Szymanski (Physics) all received the prestigious award after demonstrating their outstanding subject knowledge, communication skills and passion for teaching. Rachel Martin received her scholarship from the Institute of Physics (IOP), she said, “I want to teach to inspire the next generation of students to reach their potential in science, and especially physics. I am so grateful for the opportunities my teachers gave me and recent headlines highlighting the gender disparity in the number of girls taking physics at A-Levels shocked me to want to work as a female role model in physics. “It was fantastic to have been awarded a scholarship. Aside from the monetary bonus, the mentoring and support from the IOP will be a great help, and being part of a network of new physics teachers will be extremely useful. It was encouraging that the IOP thought I will make a good physics teacher!” The Institute of Mathematics awarded Sinead Rafferty with the award, she commented, “For me, the most exciting part of a lesson is when there is a light bulb moment, when a student understands a topic, or finds an answer for themselves. Being the person who can trigger that discovery is one of the many rewarding experiences a teacher gets in a classroom. Teaching will allow me to be able to show my passion for mathematics, while still enabling me to continue my own learning and development. “I was elated when I received the news of the scholarship, it was the icing on the cake as my final year of university drew to a close. It has given me confidence heading into my PGCE year, and has helped me to realise my passion for teaching. I am really looking forward to being part of such a credible society, and to be part of a network of other teacher trainees, who stem out beyond St Mary’s.” Susan Mayes and George Draganov both received their scholarship from the Royal Society of Chemistry. Susan, who worked for 14 years as a chemist in industry said, “The application process was testing, but well worth the effort to receive the scholarship. For me it confirmed what I had hoped, that I have the potential to be a good teacher. I see teaching as a profession which offers new challenges, whilst combining all the elements I most enjoyed in my previous career and as a mother. I love chemistry because it explains why the world is the way it is, and I enjoy sharing my knowledge and enthusiasm. There are some fantastic careers out there for chemists, and hopefully I can inspire and encourage young people to pursue the subject to enrich their own lives and the lives of others.” George added, “I feel proud and honoured to receive this scholarship and am really looking forward to studying at St Mary’s, which has an outstanding reputation for its PGCE courses.” St Mary’s Programme Director Anna Lise Gordon commented, “We are delighted to be working with 160 promising PGCE student teachers across a range of subjects this year, and are thrilled that some of the maths and science students have won these prestigious awards.” St Mary’s Academic Director Ed Boyle added, “Attracting outstanding students to join our outstanding courses as judged by Ofsted, ensures we have the best teachers in our schools.” St Mary’s has a 150 year history in teacher training and was rated as ‘Outstanding’ at its most recent Ofsted inspection. The School of Education, Theology and Leadership offers a variety of teacher training options, including an undergraduate programme with QTS (Qualified Teacher Status), and PGCE programmes. For more information please visit the website.