Christine Walls wins NSF Excellence in Education Award

CETC Senior Trainer Christine Walls has been announced as the winner of the CIPFA National Student Forum (NSF) Excellence in Education award. The award was presented at the 2006 NSF conference on Thursday 29 June.

The award is presented annually by the NSF and is designed to recognise the dedication, commitment and hard-work shown by the recipient. Students can nominate any lecturer from any of the accredited CIPFA course providers that they believe deserves the award.

Gary Gilbert, Head of CETC, says:

"Christine whole-heartedly deserves this award which recognises her outstanding contribution to students' education and training. We are extremely pleased for Christine and proud to have an NSF Excellence in Education award winner on our teaching team. From everybody at CETC we'd like to congratulate Christine."

As Christine is currently on maternity leave, the award was accepted on her behalf by the incoming president of the NSF, Johanna Taylor. Johanna, a former CETC student, says:

"Personally I remember Christine going beyond the call of duty in helping with my revision for the SBM exam last summer. My mock exam had gone missing in the post and I had no idea how I had done, apart from the mark. Christine sat me down, explained the marking process and was able to contact another student to allow me to review a paper with a similar grade. Without her timely assistance, I would have felt utterly terrified and unprepared for this exam, but as it turned out I passed it, and with it qualified for CIPFA. I will never forget the great kindness Christine showed me, and all of her students, at such a stressful time. Many congratulations to such a deserving winner."

Christine joined CETC in early 2003, having previously worked in public sector audit with a large accountancy firm. She teaches Financial and Performance Reporting and Public Finance at Diploma level and is involved in the Case Study at the Final Test of Professional Competence level. On winning the prize Christine says:

"I'm somewhat surprised to have received this award and it still hasn't quite sunk in. It feels like receiving my P3 results all over again! I'm very pleased to have been nominated for this award by the CIPFA student body and would like to thank all the students who nominated me for this award. The continued efforts I see students make in their studies spurs me on to provide them with the best support I can so my award should reflect on their dedication and that of the CETC team who paved the way for what excellent training should be from my experiences of qualifying."


Congratulations again to Christine. To find out more about NSF visit their website: www.cipfa.org.uk/students/nsf/