West Yorkshire teachers win £35,000 in competition to find innovative ideas in education

Jessica Mellor from Halifax and Matt Harte from Leeds were among the seven winners in this year’s Let Teachers SHINE competition.

Ms Mellor,from the Great Heights Academy Trust, received £25,000 from Let Teachers SHINE for Fixing Fluency, a project designed to develop the fluency of primary-age pupils.

Meanwhile, Mr Harte, from Leeds City College, has been granted £10,000 to develop Better on the Big Screen, which combines the magic of movies with the convenience of AI to inspire students resitting their English language GCSE.

Let Teachers SHINE is an annual funding competition run by education charity SHINE. Past winners have included the creators of Times Tables Rock Stars and Hegarty Maths, programmes which have since helped millions of students.

Ms Mellor said: “Reading continues to be one of the most significant barriers to educational achievement, particularly for our disadvantaged pupils. Reading fluency is crucial to unlocking the potential and power of reading in terms of academic achievement.”

Fixing Fluency involves teachers leading their whole class in daily activities based on that week’s chosen text, culminating in Readers’ Theatre – a performance of the text.

Ms Mellor added: “I was absolutely delighted to receive the award. It’s a real privilege to be able to work with an organisation like SHINE that prioritises the importance of a shared mission around achieving great things for children and giving them the best possible chances in education, no matter what their starting point or educational background is.”

Mr Harte explained how his project will work: “The students will see the films and film clips, which match the lesson content they receive afterwards, allowing them to build their analysis of the narrative they have watched.

“The use of AI enables us to curate a wide range of teacher-controlled pieces of prose that are linked directly to the plot, characters and visual richness of the films.”

Matt says he and his English teaching team are “over the moon” at being selected for the Let Teachers SHINE award.

“We’ve become really good at using AI as a tool for idea generation, and we know that the students love the film lessons from the prototype resources we have made,” he said.

He hopes the project will “open doors to students who’ve maybe not experienced the richness of films, theatre and literature. Because, for a lot of these students, the only time they read any literature is in the English language classes.

“I’d be delighted if it inspired more students to get into story writing and the creative industries,” he said. “I hope they come to view writing and storytelling as being a valuable life skill. It’s not just about passing an exam.”

Of Mr Harte’s project, Fiona Spellman, CEO of SHINE, said: “Emerging technology offers so much potential for developing innovative ways of learning, reducing teacher workload, and engaging students.

“We are so excited to be supporting Matt’s innovative film project and are looking forward to seeing the transformative impact on literacy and love of learning.”

Regarding Ms Mellor’s project, Ms Spellman said: “There are so many skills involved in literacy, but we know that fluent readers can unlock everything the school curriculum has to offer, as well as a lifelong love of reading. We are so pleased to be supporting Jessica’s important work in this field, and excited to see the impact it will have.”