Festival Keynote | Amanda Dewinter and Andria Zafirakou

Title: Success secrets: does being a teacher have to be this hard?

Summary: Amanda Dewinter, best-selling author and chair of governors, will be in conversation with Andria Zafirakou, best-selling author and Global Teacher Prize Winner of the Year 2018, discussing what success looks like for a teacher. They will explore tough questions such as is it even possible to be a successful teacher, how can you overcome the fear of failure, how can you avoid that feeling of falling off the cliff, how can you prioritise your wellbeing when under pressure and how is it possible to tap into a love of teaching and the education profession?

About Andria

Andria Zafirakou, a teacher at Alperton Community School in Brent., won $1 million when she was crowned the best teacher in the world.

Andria was born in north-west London to Greek-Cypriot parents and state-educated in Brent and Camden.

She is an art and textiles teacher in Brent on the outskirts of London, one of the world’s most ethnically diverse places. She is passionate about education and changing the lives of young people and underserved communities through creativity.

She has worked her entire teaching career of 14 years at Alperton Community School and was promoted to Deputy Head of Art within a year of her arrival. She is now Associate Deputy Headteacher leading on staff professional development.

Using the prize money awarded by the Global Teacher prize, Andria founded a charity called Artists in Residence (AiR) with an aim to improve arts education in schools.

Andria has also been named in the top ten of The Evening Standard's 1000 Londoners List. A list of the most influential people in London.

Andria is the best-selling author of Those Who Can, Teach (Bloomsbury, 2021).

About Amanda

Amanda Dewinter is the best-selling author of The Success Code (HQ Harper Collins, 2021), the chair of governors at Harris Academy Tottenham and a governor at South Hampstead High School. She has had an extensive career in marketing, working for blue-chip brands in both the media at BSkyB, launching The Movie Channel, and The Daily Telegraph, launching an international newspaper, and in retail, at BHS and WHSmith. Amanda is a social scientist and dedicated life-long learner with a degree in Economic and Social Sciences from the University of Manchester, a master’s degree in Life Course Development from Birkbeck, University of London and a Graduate Diploma in Law from London law school, BPP.

About Festival Keynotes

Across two weeks, we will broadcast a series of keynote sessions from leading educationalists and thought leaders from across the globe. These keynotes will be streamed online and free to attend for everybody.

Festival keynotes will be 60-90 minutes long and typically include a live Q&A opportunity with the audience at home.

Keynotes will be announced via our website educationfest.co.uk.

About the Festival

The Festival of Education has become one of the most exciting, credible and inspiring education events of the year. The global Covid-19 pandemic will once again prevent us from holding the Festival within the beautiful grounds of Wellington College – the home of the Festival of Education.

But we’re excited to be able to provide a virtual festival experience in 2021, and thanks to the support of Wellington College and our partners we’re able to provide free access to all Festival-goers this year.

This two-week virtual festival will host speakers of international renown and topical, meaningful and thought-provoking sessions. Our “Friday Fest” days will provide an array of meaningful CPD sessions across a variety of themes.

It won’t be the same as the real physical event – but we are determined to provide an inspiring virtual space for teachers and educators across the globe.