National Thank a Teacher Campaign calls on families to join in praise for teachers

@cbbc Blue Peter’s @Adam_byt kick-starts #NationalThankaTeacherCampaign ahead of National Teacher Day on June 23. Along with @PixieLott, @BegumNadiya and @MichaelMorpugo 

Blue Peter’s Adam Beales is today kick-starting a campaign launched one month out from National Thank a Teacher Day on 23 June. Families across the country will come together to thank teachers, lecturers and school staff and praise the work that schools do. Led by The Teaching Awards Trust, the annual Thank a Teacher campaign is looking for creative ways for children and their families to thank the school staff who go above and beyond.

This year’s campaign is being launched today by Blue Peter presenter Adam Beales calling on children to send a message of thanks to their amazing teachers. Adam will be joined by a host of big names to announce the winners of a number of competitions running all month, including: 

• Celebrated baker Nadiya Hussain judging a baking competition for the finest cookies; 
• The Gruffalo illustrator Axel Scheffler choosing his favourite drawing praising teaching superstars; 
• Beloved author Sir Michael Morpurgo deciding the best poetry submission.

Children are encouraged to let their creativity flow, thanking their teachers with songs, poems, and pictures to show what their teachers mean to them, using thehashtags #ThankATeacherDay and #HowWillYouSayThankYou to join the campaign. They are also encouraged to wear something sparkly for their teaching heroes in celebration of the ‘Stars’ theme for the day.

The messages will be shared across the country on Thank a Teacher Day on Wednesday 23 June when the country joins together in celebrating teachers and school staff. With so many stories coming out over the past year of teachers going the extra mile to care for their students, there has never been a better time to appreciate them and the vital work they do.

Mary Palmer, CEO of The Teaching Awards Trust, said:

“We’re so excited by the plans for Thank a Teacher Day this year and can’t wait to see all the brilliant Thank You videos come flooding in. We’ve got some fantastic celebrity judges who are really looking forward to judging their competitions and seeing how creative children across the country can be in thanking their school heroes.

“We’ve had thousands of thank you messages come in over the course of the year and we know how much these mean to our fantastic teachers and school support staff. It’s great to see so much support for our school staff across the country, and I’d encourage everyone to get involved with an absolutely brilliant cause.”

Michael Morpurgo, celebrated author and former Children’s Laureate, and President of the Teaching Awards Trust, said: 

“So often and for so many of us, it is a teacher who changed our lives, was at our side through hard and difficult times, who lifted us up when we were down, helped us find our voice, gave us confidence when we needed it most, set us on a path that we have followed ever since.”