Congratulations to the Class of 2012
Posted on 19 July 2012
The Department also presented an Honorary Degree to Sir Mike Tomlinson, the former chief inspector for schools and author of a landmark report into the curriculum for 14-19 year-olds. Sir Tomlinson is currently Chair of MyScience, the company which runs the National Science Learning Centre and the National STEM Centre here in York.
In addition to our undergraduates, staff from the Department of Education also received an award at the ceremony. Gill Hampden-Thompson and Vanita Sundaram from the Department, along with Kate Harper from Careers Service, were awarded a Vice Chancellor’s Teaching Award for their work on the Volunteering and Enrichment programme. Only a small number of these awards are made each year to staff for outstanding innovations in teaching. The undergraduates graduating on the day were the first cohort of students to have taken part in this highly successful programme.
Two graduating students were selected for particular recognition for their dissertations. The judging panel were impressed by the originality and imagination they showed, the way the research was conducted, the high standard of reporting, excellent use of existing research, and contribution of important new research they made to under-studied areas. Andrea Schweizer was awarded the Jones Prize, which is funded by a former student, for her dissertation evaluating the success of the Common Assessment Framework policy for assessing the needs of young children. Unfortunately, Andrea was unable to attend the graduation ceremony as she has started a new job in Switzerland, where she will be working with young children to assess their needs. Chelsea Swift was awarded the runner-up prize for her dissertation on choosing a class reader. Chelsea has also won a Department scholarship to help her continue with her studies, and she will be coming back next year to start work on her PhD. The Department of Education, like the University, will be 50 years old next year, and the scholarship is an anniversary scholarship to mark the event.
The Department of Education would like to congratulate all those who graduated on 12 July 2012 and wish them all the best for the future.
