Dedicated Sheffield teacher expands careers programme

Bernadette Edge, who teaches at Longley Park Sixth Form College scooped an award from Career Ready, a charity that aims to help young people become work ready through a programme of mentoring, masterclasses, internships and workplace visits. Her interest and commitment in improving the employment prospects of her students impressed judges of the award, sponsored by Santander.

Bernadette was given £5000 to support the careers programme. She said: “Longley Park Sixth Form College has been working with Career Ready for nearly 10 years and the most rewarding part of my role is seeing students blossom - the transformation is truly inspirational. I hope, in future, to expand our Career Ready programme to include an IT theme as well as increasing both our external and internal career days to address alternative routes to further education.”

Anne Spackman, Chief Executive of Career Ready, said: “It’s great to see an award which celebrates schools and colleges who are outstanding at employer engagement, now recognised as a major contributor to students’ future success in the workplace.

“Longley Park Sixth Form College has been a pioneer in this field. Its success is due in no small part to the magnificent leadership and energy provided by Bernadette Edge, UK winner of the Santander Award.”

The winning teacher also received £250 John Lewis vouchers, and will be given one-to-one mentoring for a year from Santander.

Stephen Cooke, Head of Tax at Santander, said: “Out of all the applications we received, Bernadette stood out as a shining example of what can be achieved through the Career Ready model. Her dedication to improving the prospect of her students is second to none.”