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Faculty staff recognised for Teaching Excellence

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Teaching staff from the School of Bioscience Education and the GKT School of Medical Education in the Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine have won King’s Teaching Excellence Awards for their contributions to taught education at the university. The awards, established in 2002, give students the opportunity to recognise staff from each Faculty who have stood out for them as exceptional in their teaching and support. The nominees are then put before a staff and student panel who finalise the awards.

The winners from each School are:

Sustained Excellence Award

  • Dr Alison Snape (School of Bioscience Education)
  • Professor Jeremy Ward (GKT School of Medical Education)

Innovation in Teaching Award

  • Dr Andy Grant and Dr Susan Duty (School of Bioscience Education)
  • Dr Laura Andreae (GKT School of Medical Education)

Student Experience Award

  • Chloe Apps Duty (School of Bioscience Education)
  • Aish Sinha (GKT School of Medical Education)

Student Support Award

  • Dr Isabella Gavazzi (School of Bioscience Education)
  • Dr Russell Hearn (GKT School of Medical Education)

The award for Sustained Excellence recognises the contribution over time, leading to a sustained impact that has significant benefits to the learning and teaching community of the Faculty. On conferring the awards in each School, the panel highlighted Dr Snape’s ‘consistently excellent teaching and unstinting dedication to the support of students in the School of Bioscience Education’ and commented that ‘Jeremy [Ward] has been a regular winner of the Teaching Excellence Award. He delivers superb lectures and makes sure that everyone follows with interest. He makes difficult topics clear and comprehensible. He is also friendly and engaging and has an excellent rapport with his students. Jeremy personifies sustained excellence in teaching for the GKT School of Medical Education.’

The Innovation in Teaching Award is given for their innovative approach to learning and teaching. The panel commented on Dr’s Andy Grant and Susan Duty from the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics who are joint winners for the School of Bioscience Education:  ‘their innovative approach to the teaching of research skills in pharmacology, through the development of a module that engages, challenges and supports students along the “research journey”, from hypothesis to publication.’
Dr Laura Andreae from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience was named winner of the Innovation in Teaching Award for the GKT School of Medical Education, the panel highlighted ‘Laura explains complicated concepts in a way that makes them easy to understand. Nominees praised the high quality of her lectures, describing them as the “best” and highlighted her ability to make difficult concepts easy to understand. Her teaching is inspiring.’

The award for Student Experience is given in recognition for outstanding contribution to the teaching environment of the Faculty, which impacts on and leads to improvements in the experiences of students. Chloe Apps in the Department of Physiotherapy, was awarded by the School of Bioscience Education. The panel underlined ‘not only Chloe’s teaching excellence but also her approachability, enthusiasm and willingness to work with students outside the formal curriculum.’ adding ‘Chloe is an inspiration to physiotherapy students.’
Aish Sinha from King’s College Hospital, was recognised by the GKT School of Medical Education. The panel remarked that ‘Aish goes above and beyond his responsibilities to make sure that medical students at King’s College Hospital have an excellent experience. Aish is approachable, knowledgeable and always willing to give up his free time to put on extra teaching sessions. Students who nominated Aish noted his dedication and praised him as a role-model.’

The awards for Student Support have been given to Dr Isabella Gavazzi from the Wolfson Centre for Age Related Diseases and Dr Russell Hearn from King's Undergraduate Medical Education in the Community (KUMEC) for the Schools of Biomedical Education and Medical Education respectively. The panel highlighted Dr Gavazzi’s ‘willingness to always go that extra mile to support her students. Always responsive, Isabella is recognised by our students as a “go-to” source for sensible, empathetic, clear and reliable advice’ and that ‘not only is Russell an inspiring teacher, but as Deputy Head of Phase 3 he is constantly looking at ways to engage students and help those who are struggling. Students who nominated Russell highlighted the impact he has had on shaping their careers and inspiring them to be better doctors.’

The winners are presented with a prize and a certificate at the graduation ceremonies in July.