Reflecting on the Impact a Teacher or Teaching Assistant Makes

Reflecting on the Impact a Teacher or...

Posted on 4th September 2025 by Jeremy Turner

On Monday’s INSET day we spent time considering the extremely well respected research of Professor John Hattie, based at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. One of his key works of research was entitled ‘Visible Learning’ – a meta analysis which reflected 15 years’ research and synthesised over 800 meta-analyses relating to the influences on achievement in school-aged students. His research involved many millions of students and represents the largest ever collection of evidence-based research into what actually works in schools to improve learning.

During the summer term all students at Bushey Meads had a chance to join in with this focus on what makes a good teacher and were given the opportunity to choose their ‘best teacher of 2024.25’ and explain why they were their ‘best teacher.’ Over 310 students responded and nominated 90 different staff, reflecting their appreciation for the hard work and dedication of the majority of staff at the school and the impact they are having.

Their well considered reasons chimed perfectly with John Hattie’s research and it was a positive moment during the day to be able to read out some of their nominations; certainly very uplifting for the staff they cited. Each week in the newsletter we will be celebrating some of these nominations and the great staff we have at Bushey Meads School.

Congratulations Mr Murray!

Always puts his students first, does so much work for us that goes unnoticed and makes any lesson that is boring a tad more enjoyable. Absolute legend! Year 11 Student

Congratulations Mrs Shah!
I really like her lessons and she is very, very kind to me and always helps me when I am stuck on a question. Year 7 Student

Congratulations Miss Birch!
She cares for students. Year 8 Student

Congratulations Miss Bragoli!
Do I need to explain – best teacher by far! Year 10 Student

Congratulations Mrs Greenwood!
You are amazing and make things so easy to understand. You take time to make sure I understand the topic and can make the lessons fun which is really helpful during stressful periods. Year 11 Student

Congratulations Mr Cox!
You are amazing and make things so easy to understand. You take time to make sure I understand the topic and can make the lessons fun which is really helpful during stressful periods. Year 11 Student

Congratulations Ms Druce!
Ms Druce has been so supportive and helpful towards our class, always going above and beyond to help us and make sure that we thoroughly understand the content covered. She always does her best to give us all of the resources we could possibly need and is happy to help always. Year 12 Student

Congratulations Mr Wood!
Always being by our side for 2 years, rarely missing a day and sending resources as well as guidance every day throughout, to the end of our GCSE’s. Year 11 Student

Congratulations Miss Cole!
She is supportive and helpful. Year 12 Student

Congratulations Miss Joannou!
You went beyond just being an exceptional teacher, you became a safe place where I felt more than comfortable sharing anything. You made dance lessons enjoyable, fun and most importantly taught us the content in an extremely useful way. You are an amazing teacher and I’m forever grateful to you. You always went above and beyond, helping me aspire to achieve my goals and made dance feel more like a home! You are incredible and helped push me through my A-levels! Year 13 Student

As recognised by so many students, we do have some amazing staff at BMS who really do go the extra mile for the students in their care. Over the next few weeks we will be highlighting some more of the staff who were nominated so look out for the regular newsletter article.