The Search is on for Britain's Dream Teachers

LONDON, February 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

    
    - New Competition From Jamie Oliver and YouTube to Find
      Inspiring Teachers
    - Ten Toughest GCSE Topics Unearthed for Teachers to Tackle
    - Competition Runs Alongside Jamie's Dream School Programme on
      Channel 4
    - Teachers Can Enter at http://www.youtube.com/dreamteachers

How does Pythagoras' theorem work, what's an enzyme, and how do you remember dates in history? These are just three of the toughest topics that GCSE students struggle with most each year, according to examiners, teachers and pupils.

Jamie Oliver and YouTube are launching a new video competition to find and celebrate the UK's most inspirational teachers who have found ways to help pupils understand and conquer these subjects.

The competition runs alongside the upcoming Channel 4 series Jamie's Dream School, in which famous experts try to re-engage children who have dropped out of education.

YouTube has worked with subject experts at Edexcel, the UK's largest awarding body, as well as asking more than a thousand students and teachers, to come up with the toughest topics at GCSE and Standard Grade. The top ten topics identified as toughest are, in order:

    
    1.  Which enzymes catalyse what substrates and how do I remember them all?
    2.  How do you balance a chemical equation?
    3.  What is Pythagoras's theorem and where does it apply?
    4.  How do globalisation and money affect local industries?
    5.  How can I remember names and dates in history?
    6.  How do I calculate forces and momentum and what equations do I need?
    7.  How should I structure an English literature essay?
    8.  What is the role of DNA in cloning and evolution?
    9.  How does nerve transmission work?
    10. How can I understand Shakespearean language?

Now we're asking Britain's teachers: Can you help? Have you got the answers?

To enter the competition, teachers need to create a short video of themselves explaining one of these topics and upload it to YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/dreamteachers.

Visitors to the site can rate the entries before they are judged by a national panel of subject specialists, including previous Teaching Award winners. There will be one winning teacher per subject; each will receive a GBP10,000 prize split between them and their school, and the winning teachers and a group of their students will be invited to an award ceremony at Google's UK headquarters. After the competition, all entries will remain on YouTube to provide an ongoing educational resource.

Linked to the upcoming Channel 4 series Jamie's Dream School, the competition aims to celebrate the inspirational teachers who are helping students in Britain's schools every day.

Jamie Oliver says: "I know that all over the place there's some great inspirational teachers and I have really learned how hard teachers work just doing Dream School.

"I have worked with YouTube to create a little bit of a prize and if you are an inspirational teacher we want you to share some of your knowledge. Get it on camera, upload it to this site and then you could be a winner, winning prizes for yourself and your school."

Laura Scott, Head of External Relations for Google, YouTube's owner, explains: "We all recognise how an inspirational teacher can make a real difference to students. Through Britain's Dream Teachers, YouTube wants to use the potential reach of the internet to help more students benefit from the expertise of teachers who are passionate about their subject. By creating a competition we also have the chance to reward and celebrate teachers who are often too modest about their skills and the positive impact they have on their students."

The deadline for all entries is midnight on Tuesday 5 April.

For more information visit http://www.youtube.com/dreamteachers

Laura Scott, Head of External Relations at Google is available for interview

A video of Jamie Oliver talking about Britain's Dream Schools is available at http://www.youtube.com/dreamteachers

Notes to Editors

Competition

Entrants have to be employed as a teacher in Britain or a teacher in training at a UK. The GBP10,000 prize for the winning teachers and their schools will be split as follows:

    
    - GBP2000 for the teacher
    - GBP1000 for the teacher to spend on IT equipment
    - GBP7000 for the school

Dream Teacher partners

    
    - Channel 4
    - The TES
    - Teachers TV
    - Edexcel, the UK's largest awarding body and part of Pearson
      International.
    - TeachFirst
    - National Teaching Awards

About Jamie's Dream School

Jamie's Dream School starts Wed 2 March at 9pm on Channel 4 http://www.channel4.com/dreamschool

In the series Jamie Oliver brings together some of Britain's most inspirational individuals to see if they can persuade 20 kids to give education a second chance having left school with little to show for the experience. The experts include scientist Professor Robert Winston, historian David Starkey, barrister Cherie Blair, journalist and political aide Alastair Campbell, actor Simon Callow, musician Jazzie B and Olympic gold medallist Daley Thompson.

About YouTube

YouTube is the world's most popular online video community allowing millions of people to discover, watch and share original videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small. YouTube, LLC is based in San Bruno, Calif., and is a subsidiary of Google Inc.

SOURCE YouTube