One of New College’s outstanding English Teachers, Ceri Boyle has been awarded a prestigious honour with the University of Oxford for providing inspiration, support and encouragement to their Oxford candidates.
Ceri, who is the Head of School of Language, Literature and Culture at the outstanding sixth form College will receive her accolade at the Inspirational Teachers Awards ceremony on Friday 19 May in Oxford.
A former student of Ceri’s, put her name forward as a teacher who played a critical role in encouraging her to apply for Oxford and fostering her through the application process for the Oxford Undergraduate scheme.
Ceri said: “I was really moved to receive the award. As far as I am concerned, I was just doing my job. I am very fortunate that I love what I do and I have never stopped seeing it as a massive privilege. Encouraging students to aim high and not be limited by geography and circumstance has been a really rewarding part of my career and was one of the many reasons I wanted to work at New College.”
She added: “I have heard Pauline speak passionately about this objective and the desire to ‘even the scale’ in education has always been a driving force in my career. The expectations set at this college demonstrate to students that they are capable of exceeding what may have once been expected of young people in this area. I am also working with people who are equally passionate about that aim. As I said before, I am a little embarrassed about getting an award for doing what I consider to be ‘just my job’ but it is lovely to get that positive feedback from a student’s perspective. I just know that there are so many other teachers who are also working incredibly hard with the same aim as me. I am just a cog in the wheel!”