Mavis Grant

Grant campaigned for security measures and protection in schools for teachers and students, and panic buttons (for summoning police) were installed in nearly all 120 schools in Newcastle.^[2] The campaign was prompted by an incident where Grant was assaulted by the mother of a pupil in 1991, who objected to a letter she had received regarding the student's behaviour.^[3][4] The assault resulted in a prosecution and suspended sentence.^[5]

In March 1994, she highlighted the importance of mutual respect in managing students, and noted concerns around budget cuts and limited student access to educational psychologists.^[6] Grant retired from teaching in 2008.^[1]

In 1998, the Mary Trevelyan Primary School trialed a new project as part of the national literacy strategy, organised by Education Secretary David Blunkett. The school scored a dramatic improvement in reading standards, and Grant was singled out for her good leadership in the initiative.^[7] In January 1999, she said it was the most successful project during her time at the school,^[8] and in February that same year, Ofsted named it as one of England's "most-improved schools".^[9]

In 1999, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire "for services to education".^[10] Her DBE was recognition for her work as head teacher at Mary Trevelyan Primary School, which was situated in a deprived area of Newcastle; 88% of its pupils were entitled to free school meals. The appointment also recognised her work as a government adviser policy and curriculum matters, including a curriculum review on teaching citizenship. She was also appointed by the Department for Education to an independent inquiry into the marking of the 1999 SATs tests for 11-year-olds.^[11]