Another teacher based in Northamptonshire, Shona McFadyen, Teacher of Biology (A Level) at The Corby Sixth Form has won Silver for the Outstanding New Teacher of the Year 2025 award.
Shona joined The Corby Sixth Form when it opened in August 2023 and has been instrumental in shaping the science curriculum, fostering academic excellence and creating a culture of compassion, awareness, and social responsibility. Her personal experiences enrich her teaching, making science relatable, engaging, and deeply impactful.
Shona’s lesson design prioritises student learning, ensuring lessons are immersive and thought-provoking. By demonstrating science’s presence in everyday life, she forges tangible links between theory and real-world applications. Her dynamic teaching approach makes science come alive, building on foundational understanding before introducing complex biological concepts.
Shona’s journey to teaching is remarkable. Diagnosed with liver failure and cancer early in life, she lived in constant anticipation of a life-saving transplant, which she received in late 2022. Throughout school and university, she balanced her studies with the uncertainty of her health. She openly shares her story in assemblies, illustrating resilience as a way of life rather than a buzzword. Her students learn first-hand the value of perseverance and goal setting, inspired by her lived experience.
