Inverness Teacher Wins Employee of the Year Award

A teacher at Drummond School, Inverness, who introduced an innovative programme to make it easier for senior pupils to adjust to life on leaving school, has been chosen as The Highland Council’s Employee of the Year.
 
Helen Bull, acting principal teacher, received her recognition at the Council’s Quality Awards, which were held on Tuesday night at the Town House, Inverness. She was nominated by her head teacher, Linda Schubert.
 
Helen works with older pupils with learning difficulties and was commended for her initiative and drive in devising and implementing a programme for pupils leaving school.  To raise their self esteem, confidence and ability, Helen enrolled them in a local gym, where they can carry on after they leave school, and focused on their personal care and safety.

Her work has been recognised by Learning and Teaching Scotland at a recent citizenship seminar where the pupils presented this programme as evidence of good practice and Aberdeen University are using this as part of their research project.

Ms Schubert said: “All in all Helen has demonstrated great imagination and initiative to develop this programme from nothing to meet the needs of her pupils and she has demonstrated excellent practice that was recognised in a recent positive HMIe inspection of the school.”
 
Also short-listed for Employee of the Year were Karen McLeod, principal solicitor in the Chief Executive’s Service, and Andrew Stevenson, the manager of The Orchard, Inverness.

Winner of the Community Council Commendation was Linda Hills, a home carer who serves the Caithness communities of Berriedale, Dunbeath and Lybster. Other members of staff nominated were George Leslie, village officer for Evanton, and Elizabeth Fraser, a teacher at Resolis Primary School on the Black Isle.

Team of the year went to the Transport Environmental and Community Services team that met the challenge of the severe flooding of October 26, last year.

Innovation of the Year went to Lillian Wark, head teacher at Pulteneytown Academy Primary School, Wick. Lillian was awarded a prize of £660 from the Staff Incentive Scheme for a simple but effective way of saving the council money. Lillian was concerned about the high cost of water bills the school received.

In consultation with the school janitor, she arranged for the water to the boys’ toilet to be turned off each night after pupils left the building and turned on again in the morning before the pupils returned.  She reckons she has cut her bill by £1,600 per year.   Her idea is set to save the Council £145,000 each year through the installation of new sensors in urinals at older schools and in public conveniences to conserve water. Lillian gifted her prize-money to the school to set up an environmental project.

The awards were sponsored by Zurich Municipal, Barkers, Bord Na Gaidhlig, Fujitsu, Thus and the Clydesdale Bank.

The full list of winners is:
 
Category 1: Meeting Customer Needs
Structured Deferred Sentence - Social Work Service

Category 2: Delivering Service Process Improvements
Putting Customers First – Blue Badge Scheme – Chief Executive’s Service

Category 3 – Engaging with Communities
The Family Centre, Merkinch, Inverness

Category 4 – Managing Change and Innovation
Highland Literacy Project –  Education Culture and Sport Service

Category 5 – Green and Clean Award
Investigation and Management of land contamination at Joss Street, Invergordon – Transport Environmental and Commmunity Services

Chairman’s Award: 
Adapting service to support inward migration – Chief Executive’s Service

Employee of the Year:
Helen Bull, acting principal teacher, Drummond School, Inverness

Community Council Commendation
Linda Hills, Home Carer, Caithness - Social Work Service

Team of the Year
TEC Services Team – Response to Storm Damage in October 2006

Innovation of the Year
Lillian Wark, Head Teacher, Pulteneytown Academy Primary School, Wick
 

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