Corsham Primary School visit and talk by Professor Dame Sonia Blandford

Corsham Primary were pleased to host Sonia Blandford who received her Damehood from Princess Anne at Windsor Castle recently.  Dame Sonia talked to the children about her accomplishments and how she achieved her damehood.

Currently one of the 250 members of the Dames Commander Society in England, Sonia is also author of 55 educational books, including ‘Born to Fail’ A Working Class View’ encompassing her own start in life.

Dame Sonia, known to us as the Founder and Musical Director of the Corsham Windband Association, has had a far-reaching career in education as highlighted in her citation for the award:

Founder and former CEO of Achievement for All 3As, transforming countless young lives through partnerships with schools, colleges and the Department for Education. She spearheaded the “200 million minutes reading challenge’’ inspiring 15,000 children to read.

One of four European experts for the European Commission contributing to a pan-European policy on improving teacher professional development.

One of the Bologna Agreement committee chairs responsible for aligning master’s qualifications across Europe.

Founded and advised 10 charities, including Teach First, where she was responsible for creating a master’s programme, secured a National Initial Teacher Training Partnership contract and led partnerships with 14 universities, thus, making her mark as an influential and well known individual promoting the cause of social mobility.

We thank Dame Sonia for taking the time to come and talk to us - she was very interesting indeed and such an inspiration!