Jamie Frost (pictured above), who works in Kingston upon Thames, received the one-off prize for going above and beyond during the Covid crisis to help keep pupils learning
A maths teacher from south-west London has won a £33,000 global teaching award after his free tuition website helped students around the world study during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Jamie Frost, 34, who works at Tiffin School in Kingston upon Thames, received the one-off prize for going above and beyond during the coronavirus crisis to help keep pupils learning.
Mr Frost, whose free online learning platform that he runs from home was used worldwide, was one of 10 finalists shortlisted for the sixth annual Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize.
Comedian and actor Stephen Fry announced on Thursday that Ranjitsinh Disale, a village primary school teacher from India who was praised for improving the education of girls, had won the million-dollar (£742,000) prize.
In his winning speech, Mr Disale said he would share half of the prize money with the nine runners-up in the competition – the first time the Global Teacher Prize winner has done this.
During the virtual ceremony broadcast from the Natural History Museum in London, actor Forest Whitaker announced that Mr Frost had been awarded special recognition.
His Dr Frost Maths tuition website – which had more than million page views a day when schools shut during the pandemic and is funded by the Mayor of London’s office – has had more than seven million teaching resource downloads.
He operates the website, which began as a blog and is now used by over 7,500 schools globally and two thirds of England’s secondary schools, alongside his teaching job at Tiffin School, working 90 hours a week.
In a video message, Whitaker said: ‘Your creativity and dedication have illuminated millions of minds for free.
‘Thank you Jamie. Thank you to all the world’s teachers.’
On receiving the Covid Hero Award, Mr Frost, who was the only British finalist in the competition, said: ‘I feel absolutely fantastic.
Mr Frost operates the website, which began as a blog and had more than million page views a day when schools shut during the crisis, alongside his teaching job at Tiffin School (above)
Comedian and actor Stephen Fry announced on Thursday that Ranjitsinh Disale, a village primary school teacher from India, had won the million-dollar prize
‘It’s such an honour to receive this award and I’m just so happy that so many students have been able to benefit from my site, and that’s what I want really.’
Mr Frost studied at Oxford University and worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley before returning to Oxford to take a PhD in computer science.
He told The Times that he ‘hated’ working in the banking sector, saying:’ I was working on trading strategies for bond traders.
‘I was just helping an institution with loads of money make more money. It wasn’t a very good feeling.’
Mr Frost said he realised that he wanted to go into teaching when helping to educate undergraduates while studying his doctorate in computational linguistics.
He had attended sixth form at Tiffin School, where he currently teaches, and took up the opportunity when offered work experience there.
He was selected from more than 12,000 nominations and applications from over 140 countries for the Global Teacher Prize.
Mr Disale pictured reacting next to his family members after winning the Global Teacher Prize 2020 today. He said he would share half of the prize money with the nine runners-up
Mr Disale seen hugging his family members after finding out he won the prize. He is the first Global Teacher Prize winner to have shared his prize money with other contestants
The only British winner of the million-dollar prize was Andria Zafirakou (pictured) in 2018, for her work as the deputy headteacher at Alperton Community School in Brent, West London
In a video message, Boris Johnson said Mr Frost’s ‘ingenuity’ had ‘given hope and support to millions of children throughout the world’.
The Prime Minister added: ‘It’s been incredible to see how teachers have adapted to home learning and used technology to continue with lessons throughout the pandemic.
‘You don’t just represent the heroic teachers in the United Kingdom but also across the whole world.’
The only British winner of the million-dollar prize was Andria Zafirakou in 2018, for her work as the deputy headteacher at Alperton Community School in Brent, West London.
At the time, she said: ‘At the end of the day, it’s all about the kids and giving them the opportunities to find the best of themselves.
‘Anything is possible.’