Dr Jo Turner, early careers teacher lead at Callington Community College has been announced as the gold winner of the Award for Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School in the 2023 Pearson National Teaching Awards on BBC’s The One Show.

Jo has been recognised for her unwavering commitment to her students and the wider school community in Callington. 

Dr Turner was nominated and selected as the gold award winner from thousands of nominees based on her inspirational teaching, contributions to her school and community, and influence among colleagues, as assessed by judges.

The exciting news was broken to Jo in the middle of one of her year 10 science lessons via a video message from one of her heroes - chemist, cosmonaut and first Brit in space Helen Sharman. Jo was then presented with her award before being congratulated by her pupils, including two past students who said they owed their success to her. 

During a week-long celebration (November 20-24) honouring inspirational educators across the country, BBC’s The One Show will announce seven of 16 gold award winners of the Pearson National Teaching Awards to shine a light on their amazing achievements. 

This Saturday (November 25), the awards ceremony, known as the 'Oscars' of the teaching profession will be hosted by presenter and radio broadcaster Gaby Roslin. The Pearson National Teaching Awards is an annual celebration that honours the outstanding achievements of educators. It’s run by the Teaching Awards Trust, an independent charity now in its 25th year, and sponsored by Pearson, the world’s leading learning company.

Michael Morpurgo, author, former Children’s Laureate, and President of the Teaching Awards Trust, said: “We all know that a great teacher can enrich your life, can help you rise to the challenge, believe in yourself, find your own voice. I know that because it happened more than once to me. That’s why these Teaching Awards are so important and important to me. Every year, without fail, we see nominations which move and inspire us and this year we have seen stellar examples of life-changing role models for young people. I want to once again congratulate the winners of the 2023 Pearson National Teaching Awards and thank them for the incredible impact they have on our communities.”