Student support manager at Thurston Community College, near Bury St Edmunds, is a finalist in the Be Kind Awards
A member of a school’s pastoral team who ‘leads with kindness every single day’ has been shortlisted for a national award.
Jonny Land is a student support manager for Year 7 at Thurston Community College, a school he attended himself when it was Thurston Upper School.
He has been shortlisted as a finalist in the Be Kind Awards in the Star Teacher category and has been invited to the awards ceremony at Chester Town Hall on July 15.
Mr Land, a non-teaching member of the pastoral team, supports the Year 7s, but also other students in the school when needed, and staff members regularly.
His nomination was written by Sarah Webdale, an assistant head of year at the school, near Bury St Edmunds, with the help of many Year 7 students.
It reads: “When I think of kindness within our school, it is impossible not to think of Jonny as he leads with kindness every single day, consistently demonstrating how being kind is the key to being happy and successful and part of a community.
“Working within the Year 7 team, Jonny daily listens to detailed accounts from 11-12-year-old students, still quite new to secondary school life; no matter how small these issues may seem, he treats them all with respect and gives his time so generously.”
It says he is keen to get his messages across to the whole year group in assemblies on mental health, kindness and community, which draw tears to staff members’ eyes and hushed, attentive silences from the Year 7 audience of 280 students.
He has a ‘sixth sense’ for which students in the year group need support and makes the time to say hello to as many of them - by name - every day as possible, taking that time to make note of uniform/mood/equipment/friendship groups so he can use these observations during any support he offers.
It reads: “Jonny's memory of so many students' names and interests has such a daily impact on these young people: making them feel seen, appreciated and cared for in a year where transition to secondary school has meant many feel so very unsure and anxious.
“Our year group continues to lead the merits board - so many of these are specifically given for empathy and respect, and I don't doubt that many of these students are working to live up to the wonderful expectations Jonny reminds them of daily.”
The nomination also talked of his anecdotes or analogies to help students make sense of their feelings or a problem and how his consistent use of gentle humour complements his kindness and makes him so approachable for students struggling in such a variety of ways.
“Students refer to Jonny as a ‘legend’ and I can't think of a single one who wouldn't want to spend time in his company and benefit from his seemingly endless wisdom - a rare boast for most adults in secondary education,” it reads.
“On top of all of this time he gives to students, his generosity also extends to simple gestures such as lending a football to students at break and repeatedly picking up and returning lost property to certain students who he has learned need that support with organisation, which they may have more easily accessed in primary school.”
Mr Land, who has been a member of the pastoral team for eight years, said: “I feel very humbled by the kind words shared in the application and am truly amazed none of the students in Year 7 let me know beforehand.
“I'm very conscious that I am one of many staff at Thurston Community College who all deserve to be nominated for this award; daily extending inexhaustible kindness towards anyone in our school community who needs it.”
Mr Land, who moved to Suffolk when he was 10, has been working in secondary education supporting students for the past 20 plus years.
He added: “It's a privilege, returning to my own school and helping provide struggling students with some of the care and attention they need to cope with issues affecting their wellbeing.”
