A TEACHER scooped a prestigious national award at a special ceremony in Westminster Hall.

Tommy Robinson, head of performing arts at John Madejski Academy (JMA) in Hartland Road, Reading, was awarded the BTEC Teacher of the year award.

The gong celebrated his hard work towards improving the performing arts subject at JMA.

His achievements include putting together a performances both nationally and internationally and selling tickets to raise cash for the school.

Speaking after receiving the award on Thursday, July 5, Mr Robinson said: “What I try to do is to give the students what they want while making sure I give them what they need.”

Mr Robinson encourages pupils to take up performing arts outside of school and puts students forward to perform at Reading Fringe Festival.

He was nominated by Renata Paradowska from Furze Platt Senior School, who said: “You watch Tommy inject the passion for Performing Arts into the most helpless students you could imagine, and you cannot stop wondering ‘how does he do that’?

“His patience and belief in students have saved many youngsters from being permanently excluded, where others were ready to give up.”

An expert panel of 52 judges carefully considered the nominees before deciding on the winner.

Rod Bristow, president of Pearson in the UK, said: “I want to offer my congratulations to Tommy for winning this award. The judges were hugely impressed by the quality of nominations this year and this is a fantastic achievement.

“The BTEC Awards are one of my favourite events of the year. They are a wonderful celebration, not just of the outstanding winners themselves, but of the value of the BTEC qualification to employers and universities around the world.”