Award for leading education figure

A leading figure in children’s services in Wolverhampton is celebrating after receiving an honorary degree from the city’s University.

Roy Lockwood, who was Wolverhampton City Council’s first Director of Services for Children and Young People, received the award at a graduation ceremony on Saturday, 8 September 2012.

The School for Education Futures presented the honour in recognition of his significant local and national contribution to school improvement and children’s services.

Roy said: "It's a great privilege to be honoured in this way by the University of Wolverhampton. I have had the privilege of working with the University for many years and have always been impressed by the commitment it has shown to the young people of the Black Country and beyond."

Roy Lockwood was born in 1950, and grew up in Pudsey in the West Riding of Yorkshire. His father was a coalminer and his mother worked in the Leeds clothing industry.

After primary school Roy attended the local grammar school and, following A levels, went on to the University of Kent at Canterbury. He graduated in 1972 with a First Class degree in English and American Literature, qualifying as a teacher in 1973 with a PGCE from the University of Bristol.

Roy began his teaching career at a secondary school in a mining village near Rotherham before moving into further education at a college in Middlesbrough. In 1979, he entered local government administration, working in the Education Department of Berkshire County Council, going on to join Coventry City Council as an Assistant Education Officer.

Roy joined the then Wolverhampton Metropolitan Borough Council in 1988, where he went on to spend 23 years of his career, first as an Assistant Director in the Education Department, then as Director of Education, and finally as the Council’s first Director of Services for Children and Young People, a position from which he retired in 2011.

Roy currently serves on the Strategic Advisory Panel for the University’s School of Education Futures.

The University of Wolverhampton’s graduation ceremonies take place at the Grand Theatre from Thursday, 6 September 2012 to Friday, 14 September 2012.

ENDS

Picture 1: Roy Lockwood
Picture 2: Roy Lockwood and Professor Mick Waters

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