A teacher from Wimbledon has won a BAFTA award for his excellent mentoring with gaming.

Richard Harris, of Raynes Park High School, recently won the BAFTA YGD Mentor Award for his innovative work.

The Head of Design was selected by a jury of industry experts and enthusiasts for supporting young people with accessible career pathways into gaming.

The superstar teacher has also established connections with businesses such as Apple and the National Video Game Museum to help create future work placements.

Richard has hosted a number of illustration workshops for students, a vast range of STEM clubs and introduced game design into the main curriculum.

His students enjoy taking part in a game design competition with BAFTA.

Wimbledon Times: Richard Harris also won a Pearson Teaching Award last year Richard Harris also won a Pearson Teaching Award last year

 

Speaking to Wimbledon Times he said: "Knowing that students took the time to nominate me for this award really has reinforced that I am making a positive impact in education.

"It's great to know that students do notice and value the hard work that goes into their educational journey.

"And I am always so excited when a student asks if they can share their idea with me or if the school will be doing the BAFTA YGD competition next year. My response as always is yes of course."

Speaking about why he wanted to introduce gaming into the curriculum, he added: "Learning becomes easy when it is fun, but the BAFTA YGD competition offered so much more for my students.

"It is a competition that encourages students to discover more about the games industry, whilst also unlocking their imaginations and creative potential.

"I quickly realised that the competition helped bridge the gap in linking what a student makes and how it can be directly linked to careers.

"Furthermore, it allowed the use of both traditional design-based skills to the more advanced computer-aided design all in one project.

"The scope and flexibility really suited the diverse range of learners."

He added: "Teaching design in any shape or form is always a joy.

"Research such as the research completed by Nasa which shows creative potential in children tends to result in evidence showing that children are much more creative than adults.

"So not only do I get to inspire the young designers of the future, but they also get to inspire me with their amazing creations."

Hear Richard speak about his award on YouTube here.