IOP wins top teaching support award

The Institute of Physics’ online teacher CPD programme, launched during lockdown, has scooped the top prize in its category in the prestigious Teach Company Awards.

Hosted on the IOP’s microsite for teachers, IOPSpark, the IOP DOMAINS programme comprises videos and live workshops, and is completely free to all teachers across the UK and Ireland.

IOP DOMAINS had been the subject of many years of thought and discussions but was ultimately instigated and developed by the IOP Education Department’s regional and coaching team, to support the CPD sessions that were running at the time and which were, by necessity, online.

IOP coaches have been supporting teachers of physics for over 15 years with face-to-face workshops, day events and one-to-one support. Moving the teacher support online to IOP DOMAINS however, enabled the IOP to continue to support teachers of physics throughout periods of lockdown in the Covid pandemic. 

So successful has it been that the programme is now a permanent IOP resource for teachers looking for support in any area of physics.

For teachers of all disciplines, finding teaching CPD support can be problematic. Teachers are faced with a veritable myriad of resources when they look, and it can be challenging to know what will be worthwhile utilising and what will not.

The Teach Company Awards however celebrate and showcase the very best in educational resources; from the early years foundation stage through to Key Stage 4.  

Through its Teach Early Years, Teach Primary and Teach Secondary Awards, the Teach Company rewards the providers of the highest standard support across the teaching landscape.

The results of the Teach Secondary Awards showcase the very best resources secondary schools can use to improve their student outcomes, staff development and whole-school practice.

Results are shared with a print and digital readership of well over 250,000 education professionals, signposting them to the highest quality of education support.

There are just three awards in each category: winner, second place and third place. Categories were Apps; Assessment; CPD; Curriculum Impact; Free Resource; Health & Wellbeing; Remote Learning; School Business; Technology; SEND; and STEM.

The IOP was overall winner of the CPD category, with second place going to Teen Tips Ltd and third place to the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Speaking about the IOP’s win, the judges said: “This is an impressively featured, free resource that can build confidence, teacher expertise and knowledge, particularly among non-specialist teachers who may not have studied physics at degree level. The website is well organised and easy to use, supporting both individual CPD and the ability for departments to learn together.”

IOP Group Chief Executive Officer, Professor Paul Hardaker, agrees. He said: “It is a real delight to see the team recognised in this way, and it is my chance to say a huge thanks to all involved for their hard work and dedication in developing and delivering a top class set of resources.

“We have long been champions of high-quality professional support for teachers that is practical and helpful in the classroom. It is so important that teachers have an easy-to-find, easy-to-use, trusted source of CPD material, and this award is a helpful reminder that they can always rely on this from the IOP.

“The past two years have presented significant challenges for many professions, and the IOP is very proud that our response to support teachers in this way has been recognised, rewarded and shared. Many thanks to The Teach Company.”