PTA-UK MEETS: TEACHER OF THE YEAR 2012, NATHAN KEMP | WORDS BY: SHAUN MCGUCKIAN

NATHAN KEMP

Eight years ago, Tollgate Primary School in London was in special measures and on the verge of shutting down. In stepped Headteacher, Tom Canning and Deputy Head, Nathan Kemp with the passion and determination to turn the school around. In 2008, Ofsted gave the school an outstanding status. On the back of winning Teacher of the Year Award at The Pearson Teaching Awards 2012, PTA-UK spoke to Nathan about his part in breathing new life into the classroom, how parents can play a vital part in making school a fantastic place to go and of course that all important award.

Firstly, congratulations on your award.

“Oh don’t, please. It’s been a bit crazy, absolutely bonkers!”

No, seriously. Very few classmates of mine said ‘once all this is over, I want to come back’. What made you want to become a teacher?

I thoroughly enjoyed my school days. I realised that was what I wanted to do and geared my entire secondary education towards doing that. My work experience was at a primary school, the GCSE subjects I chose were the ones that would help most with teaching and my degree was a four-year one, in teaching. So from the moment I left the classroom I was fully prepared to turn round and march back in.

Was your family academic and creative?

I was the first person on my Dad’s side to go to university. He worked on Plymouth docks for 40 years and my mum was in the RAF until we were born. One of my sisters is profoundly deaf, so Mum worked hard to raise us all.

So how have you developed your blueprint for teaching?

When I was at school I was frustrated by my lack of subject knowledge in certain lessons. It was at these times having a teacher tell me that ‘we would get there with some patience’ was a massive help. It gave me time to talk through things, get some clarity and move on and that’s what I try to do with my students. The relationship between teacher and student should not be about judgement, but about confidence.

Sounds far removed from the quota driven notion that currently dominates.

Personal targets are sometimes more effective than academic; sometimes it is a personal issue that is standing in the way of a child and their performance. Making that extra effort to get pupils focussed on their personal development will often help push them that little bit further.

So, how do you go about winning ‘Teacher of the Year’? Who enters you?

You are nominated; normally by a child, parent or colleague. I didn’t know I’d been nominated. I received a letter but never checked it. I was then shortlisted for the regionals (London & South East). Judges came to interview students and parents and all of a sudden I was in the final three and watching my name being announced.

Why are you known as Batman?

There are occasions where I haven’t been able to mark the books in time and so I make a joke of that saying that I wasn’t able to do it because I was out saving Gotham last night.

So you flipped the classic ‘dog ate my homework’.

Yeah, I played the role of a child. It’s amazing what you can learn from them.

So what next...turning on the Christmas lights? Will you be campaigning round schools in a tour bus to bring them your method?

You could use it for personal enhancement and or you could use it as a stepping stone onto something else. I’m very much for the former. I’m a deputy headmaster already, so in a strange way I would prefer to slow down my career. I don’t want to put myself in jobs that I’m not ready for. This award 

6 PTA-UK Magazine November 2012