Richmond Lipreading Tutor Wins Teaching Oscar

With the world getting noisier every day, the work of those helping the hard of hearing is becoming increasingly important - one of the reasons Richmond lipreading tutor Ollie Goldstone has been awarded a ‘teaching Oscar’.

Ollie, who teaches lipreading at RACC (Richmond Adult Community College),
beat more than 2,000 other nominees to win a Highly Commended award in the prestigious National Star Awards run by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service.

Ollie won the award in the ‘Teaching, training and learning practitioner – learner nomination’ category sponsored by the Institute of Learning after her 36 students at RACC nominated her.

She began working with the hard of hearing 11 years ago, first learning British sign language and then training to be a lipreading tutor. She has taught at RACC since 2006.

Says Ollie: ”I am thrilled to get this award and very proud to have been nominated by my own students. It is also a fitting recognition of the needs of people everywhere for whom communicating with others is a daily challenge.”

It is also, Ollie points out, a challenge more and more people of all ages are having to face.

“Today, it is not only those who are born with hearing problems, or the elderly, who are suffering. The volume of sound people are subjected to, for instance from iPods or because of their work or even war service, means the number needing help is constantly increasing.”

In addition to a inscribed glass star, Ollie also won £1,300 to fund an activity or project for self-development, either personally or professionally, which she is looking forward to spending on a project involving her students.