Worthing head teacher wins coveted Silver Teaching Award for his outstanding work in special education in West Sussex

Phillip Potter was appointed head teacher at Oak Grove College, a secondary school for students in West Sussex with special educational needs, in 2011.

Staff arranged a surprise celebration for him on Wednesday, June 21, as part of events to mark National Thank a Teacher Day. He was addressing colleagues to thank them for their achievements when he was interrupted by Worthing town crier Bob Smytherman heralding the presentation of the award by the High Sheriff of West Sussex, Andy Bliss.

Phillip was one of only five national winners in the category for special educational needs, and the only winner in Sussex. He will now be considered for a Gold Teaching Award in the Award for Excellence in Special Needs Education and final results will be announced in late November.

Having been surprised by the award, he continued his address by saying that focusing on how teams work and a belief in wanting to make society a better place for those with complex learning needs were the drivers for all the staff team, who should all be proud of their work.

Phillip added: "None of us can do our jobs without the rest of the team and this award is truly something that all of us are part of, all of you contribute to and all of you should feel you own.”

The Pearson National Teaching Awards were set up in 1998 to celebrate the impact of invaluable education within the UK. Run by the Teaching Awards Trust and supported by Pearson and the BBC, they are the UK’s most prestigious celebration of transformational teaching.

Christine Chalmers, Oak Grove’s chair of governors, said: "We are all hugely proud of Phillip and delighted that he’s won this well -deserved award. We’ll be rooting for him in November when the gold awards are announced."The nomination for Phillip had been presented to the awards team by his colleagues.

It read: "Phillip Potter is irritatingly good at his job. He knows exactly what to say and when to say it to get the best results from everyone he comes into contact with. His superpower is knowing more about a person than they do themselves and recognising talent where it has not been seen or believed before – Annoying! The worst part is that he is really lovely too.

"Phillip has been Head Teacher at Oak Grove College in Worthing West Sussex for the last 11 years. He is responsible for 276 students with Special Educational Needs and over 140 members of staff. He knows everyone! Not only students and staff but their families.

"Phillip is deserving of this award due to the impact he has on students and staff every day at college. His kind, supportive, calm nature has literally saved lives over the years.

"Learning Environment: Oak Grove College is a thriving community that Phillip has developed and nurtured over the years. He has moved office twice over his time, feeling that he had too much space; he had his office halved to create another office and well-being space for students. He then moved to a different room and had this halved to enable a second office. He has utilised every available space the school has to ensure the students have as much space as possible.

"His clever designs and desire to get the best from our county council has meant that we now have over 50 more students in site than when he joined us.

"Student Progress: Since Phillip has been head teacher, the number of accreditations our students have gained has shot up dramatically. Despite the cost involved with exams, he has never put a cap on learning and as a result we have had some students gain C grade GCSEs, Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awards and some have headed to university. His aspirational view of our learners has become the everyday view of everyone in college and as students move through their Key Stage 3, 4 and 5 journeys our aim is to give the opportunities needed for our students to reach their full potential whatever their starting point.

"Continuous Development: it is not only students Phillip has high ambitions for. His staff are always encouraged to gain additional knowledge, take on new skills and aim high. A large number of teaching staff starting working at Oak Grove as teaching assistants and are now middle and senior leaders. He encourages universities to visit, we have our three local universities come for immersion days, placements, visits and he with other staff go and speak to whole cohorts of student teachers, social workers, nurses, physiotherapists, those doing Education Studies and doctors. He has an open-door policy and actively encourages professionals to come in and see what happens each day.

"Phillip is outside at the start of school every day guiding minibuses and taxis into their parking spaces to drop students off. He goes into each class to say good morning and check-in with everyone. He does lunch duty every day which can include feeding, mopping up, supporting queuing, personal care, chatting about football and Smurfs, supporting staff with challenging behaviour, attending to scraped knees or dancing to the music in the playground. Even with all this he still finds time to speak to staff to make sure they are OK and have everything they need.”