MPW student achievement is celebrated at the 2018 Shine a Light Awards

Year 11 MPW student Siena Castellon was highly commended in the category of Child/Young Person of the Year.

Pearson’s annual Shine a Light Awards celebrate innovative work and excellent practice in supporting children and young people’s communication development.

Siena was highly commended at the ceremony, a well-deserved accolade for her tireless work in many areas including dyslexia, autism and anti-bullying. Siena is an inclusion campaigner whose mission is to mentor and support bright children with learning differences.

Siena comments: "Thank you to Pearson and The Communication Trust for recognising and shining a light on my commitment to raising awareness and acceptance of autism and my commitment to supporting young people with disabilities. 

"I am extremely honoured to have had my efforts recognised. I am now more motivated than ever to use my voice to change the landscape so that autistic children and children with learning disabilities are better understood and have happy, fulfilling and enriching childhoods."

Adam Hess, comedian and host of the 2018 Shine a Light Awards, remarked “Siena’s dedication is outstanding. As a child, I struggled greatly with dyslexia and an immense fear of public speaking, if it wasn’t for the support I received when I was younger I wouldn’t be in the position I am today. 

"It is fantastic to know that people like Siena are supporting other children and young people, enabling them to thrive and achieve their goals. Siena should be very proud of her success.”

Her commendation is one of many awards that Siena has to her name as a result of her determination and efforts to improve school life for others.

In November she won both the British Dyslexia Association’s Young Person of the Year Award and a Personal Achievement Autism Hero Award; in February she spoke on inclusion at an International Women’s Day event; over Easter she will be working with Facebook to understand their online safety features in relation to anti-bullying. 

All of this in addition to continuing to manage her website, www.qlmentoring.com, a fantastic resource for students and teachers alike, and juggling her workload for her GCSE examinations, which she will sit this summer.