Corby teacher named in top 10 in the world

Ray Chambers, a computer science teacher at Brooke Weston Academy, is one of 10 finalists in the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize.

He is the only teacher from the UK to make the final list, and will now travel to Dubai for the awards ceremony.

Mr Chambers, who was nominated by an employee from Microsoft, entered teaching nine years ago by accident as the result of a last-minute computer science degree placement and found that he loved it.

In 2013/14 he won the Microsoft Innovative Expert Educator award and in 2015 he received the UK national teaching award for innovative use of technology.

Mr Chambers said: “I’m completely shocked and over the moon to have made it through to the top 10 and the whole thing is very surreal.

“I’m very blessed to work at Brooke Weston and the support of the staff and students has been amazing.

“What the Varkey Foundation is doing to boost the profile of teaching is fantastic.

“It’s a great profession to get into and no day is ever the same.”

Representatives from 37 countries were shortlisted and by highlighting their stories the Varkey Foundation hopes that the public will be able to join in passionate debates about the importance of teachers.

Sunny Varkey, founder of the Varkey Foundation, said: “I want to congratulate Ray for being selected as a top ten finalist from such a huge number of talented and dedicated teachers.

“I hope his story will inspire those looking to enter the teaching profession and also shine a powerful spotlight on the incredible work teachers do all over the UK and throughout the world every day.

“The thousands of nominations and applications we received from every corner of the planet is testimony to the achievements of teachers and the enormous impact they have on all of our lives.”

More than 20,000 nominations from 179 countries were received for the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize.

The award, now in its third year, is the largest of its kind and the winner will receive a prize of $1m.