Member Article

Coventry business provides £4,000 of prizes

An 11-year-old Coventry schoolgirl has received £250 after nominating her teacher in a radio competition.

Victoria Dalton received her prize money in front of the morning assembly at Aldermoor Farm Primary School in Acorn Street, Stoke Aldermoor, after her entry was chosen in an online vote organised by Free Radio to honour Coventry and Warwickshire’s favourite teachers.

The teacher she nominated, John Chylinski, received £1,000 from Coventry-based training provider PET- Xi which will be used to buy more books for the school’s library.

Victoria’s parents, Teresa and Emmett Dalton, were invited to the assembly to watch their daughter receive her cheque and certificate from June McKenna and Lisa Haddon of PET-Xi in front of the school’s pupils.

The year six student, who plans to use some of her winnings to buy new books and clothes, said: “Sir makes everything fun and always lets us have a laugh in class. My teacher creates a bubbly atmosphere in the classroom and makes everyone feel welcome.

“Even though, Sir lets us have a laugh he is always pushing us in our curriculum and believes in us that we can show our true potential. Sir always partakes in any school events to help the less fortunate and as of today he agreed to sponsor me if did an array of activities to raise money for Myton Hospices. Even if I don’t win I would like to say thank-you to him for everything he does.”

Mr Chylinski added: “I would like to thank Victoria for nominating me. I honestly don’t feel like this is a job because I love teaching so much.

“Victoria and all the pupils have made my job so much easier and I would like to thank all the staff and everyone who voted for me. Victoria deserves every penny of her winnings because she is a fantastic pupil.

“I’m the literacy co-ordinator for the school so the cheque will be used to buy more books and other items for the library.”

Eleven-year-old Keren Dungi and nine-year-old Precious Bakare received certificates after nominating their teachers Andrew Field and Stephanie Bundyford.

The cheques presented at Aldermoor Farm Primary School were part of a £4,000 bonanza donated by PET-Xi for the winning and second-placed teachers in primary and secondary schools along with the youngsters who had put forward their nominations.

June, head of key stage two strategy at PET-Xi which runs GCSE and GCSE equivalent courses through intensive programmes, said the competition on Free Radio had really caught the imagination of students across Coventry and Warwickshire.

“We were delighted there were around 300 entries and choosing the final three for the online vote was not an easy task because there were so many deserving winners which emphasises the high standard of teaching,” she said.

“It was great to meet Victoria and Mr Chylinski and hand over their cheques in front of the entire school and it was lovely to hear they are both going to be buying books.

“We would like to thank Free Radio presenters John Dalziel and Roisin McCourt for visiting each of the winning schools as well.”

Head teacher David Harding from Race Leys Infant School in Bedworth was the runner-up in the primary school section, receiving £500, with Sam Brindley receiving £250 for being the nominee.

Chris Gabbett from Trinity Catholic School in Leamington was presented with £1,000 in the secondary school category and student Neetu Purewal received £250 for nominating the head teacher. Lucy Price from Heart of England School in Balsall Common was given £500 as the runner-up and Summer Wareing earned £250 for her nomination.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by PET-Xi .