Education Studies student awarded MBE

Portrait of OU Education Studies student Aimee Durning. She sits in a meadow garden outside her school.

Open University student and Teaching Assistant (TA) Aimee Durning has been awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours 2021.

Aimee, who works at University of Cambridge Primary School and is now in her second year of study on the OU Education Studies (Primary) degree programme, was recognised for services to children with special educational needs and disabilities through the Covid crisis as well as services to teaching assistants.

The Education Studies (Primary) team have joined in congratulating Aimee, saying:

“The team is so proud of Aimee's achievements. She is an amazing asset to her school, University of Cambridge Primary School, in the role of Director of Inclusion and Community. During the pandemic she contacted our team asking about professional development opportunities for staff, which led to the curation of two new OpenLearn hubs for teaching assistants and teachers.

“Aimee works tirelessly every day for the children in her school and still finds time to study to achieve her goal of graduating with an Education Studies degree. She regularly supports other students on Twitter and took part in last year's Student Hub Live event inspiring even more students. Congratulations, Aimee - we are so very proud of you.”

Aimee’s outstanding work has been recognised in the past as winner of the Times Educational Supplement classroom assistant of the year award.

Read more about Aimee and her mission to share best practices with other TAs in this article from Cambridge Independent.

You can access the OpenLearn hubs initiated by Aimee’s request in the links below:

Teaching Assistants Hub on OpenLearn

Primary Teachers Hub on OpenLearn