Pupil Scott Maitland was having a tough time at school when teacher Shireen Gardee took over as head of his house.
Scott, now 13, suffers from severe attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which caused learning difficulties, occasionally violent outbursts, and very poor social skills.
Miss Gardee, however, recognised Scott’s academic potential and took the time, with help from his mother Angela, to develop strategies to encourage him to cope with classes and to become more involved in school life.
Mrs Maitland has now nominated 29-year-old Miss Gardee, who is also head of geography at St Andrews School in Croydon, as Teacher of the Year in our Croydon Champions awards.
Mrs Maitland said: “When she took over as head of Lincoln House halfway through Year 7 things were going really, really badly.”
Angela said without someone like Shireen to look out for Scott while he was at school she would have had to give up her own job at the Hop, Skip and Jump preschool in Surrey Street and teach him at home – a measure that she said would have only further hampered his social skills.
Because of Miss Gardee’s efforts Scott has not only stayed in school, but has received encouraging reports from other teachers and is even planning to take a few of his GCSEs early.
He was the team mascot for Lincoln House at sports day this year – the first year they have won the competition.
Miss Maitland said: “Miss Gardee sees Scott as a person with great potential and not just a problem, and has been there for him 100 per cent over the last year and a half.
“She has never considered him a nuisance and, although he can be hard work sometimes, she never backs off from dealing with him. I can deal with it, I have had 13 years of practice. But for someone who has only had a year and a half, what she does is fantastic.”
Miss Gardee was humbled and surprised when told she had been nominated.
“I don’t think I’ve done much, other than doing my job. It was really a case of trial and error, trying to find some even ground for him.
“Scott can get up to a lot of mischief, but you must allow for the challenges.
“You can think he’s being demanding, or a nuisance, or a problem, but really he’s just being Scott.”
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