Yasmin Bevan

Dame Yasmin Bevan, DBE has been the headteacher of Denbigh High School in Luton, England, for more than 15 years. After winning a regional teaching award she was named the National Headteacher of the Year. The school gained a certain degree of notoriety when it won a House of Lords ruling against former pupil, Shabena Begum, who claimed she was denied the right to manifest her religion by wearing the jilbab.

Ms. Bevan was born into a Bengali Muslim family and grew up in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh before coming to the UK. [http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200506/ldjudgmt/jd060322/begum-1.htm]

In a BBC Video Nation film, she speaks of her love of the school and respect for its pupils. She said, "I want to get to school every day because the students and staff are so rewarding. "I have been at three other schools during my career but I feel a real sense of affinity with Denbigh High and its community ... [t] he students come from all over the world but share a common desire to be successful against some very significant challenges." [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/beds/bucks/herts/6217151.stm]

She was the 2005 winner of the RAF Award for Headteacher of the Year in a Secondary School in [the] East of England.

Quotes

Following her appointment as a DBE, Dame Yasmin said: “I was very surprised and overwhelmed to be nominated for this honour, particularly as working in education, which I love, is a rich reward in itself. I am delighted the achievements of communities which succeed against considerable odds has been publicly recognised. This would not have been possible without the collective efforts of all involved, especially of the young people themselves, and I am very grateful to all those colleagues and well-wishers who have supported me over the years.”

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/videonation/articles/b/beds_proudhead.shtml BBC Video Nation]