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King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls teacher wins impressive national STEM award

[caption id="attachment_10574" align="alignright" width="251"] Mick McCarthy, Head of Design & Technology at King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls[/caption] Mick McCarthy, Head of Design & Technology at King Edward VI Handsworth School for Girls, has won a prestigious national award for contributions towards teaching of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). Given the ENTHUSE Award for School & College Leadership in STEM at the 2020 ENTHUSE Celebration Awards, Mick was announced as a winner at an online celebration hosted by Dallas Campbell (The Gadget Show and Bang Goes The Theory) at 4pm on 10th December 2020. The awards, organised by STEM Learning, recognise the best in UK STEM teaching, highlighting the work and achievements of teachers and school support staff who have gone the extra mile to inspire their students. On presenting the award the judges congratulated Mick saying: “Mick is the head of department for D&T at the school and has effectively taken the department from no students taking D&T at GCSE to having now 31 students at GCSE in just two years, and students from the school have also gone on to win national design competitions. That’s a fantastic achievement. He wanted to change perceptions of D&T and also raise expectations from students. In his own words they “needed to make D&T exciting again.” Well done Mick.” STEM Learning’s Chief Executive Yvonne Baker, said: “These Awards are a timely reminder of just how instrumental teachers are to our young people’s future, and the future for us all. Each of our winners – and everyone who was nominated – is making a real difference to their pupils, their colleagues and their communities. They are improving lives on a daily basis by sharing their knowledge, enthusiasm and passion for STEM. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts for their commitment and hard work.” The ENTHUSE awards are open to everyone who has undertaken professional development at STEM Learning’s National STEM Learning Centre or through its network of Science Learning Partnerships. This includes both online and remote CPD during lockdown, and CPD with one of its partners in Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. Based in York, the National STEM Leaning Centre offers professional career development to teachers and other educators. The centre combines state-of- the-art facilities with an extensive library and repository of resources to provide teachers with the highest standard of STEM education and careers support. The full online awards ceremony can be viewed at: https://www.stem.org.uk/news-and-views/news/enthuse-celebration-award-winners-announced-10-december