Peabody celebrates apprentices with awards and reveals top Ofsted rating

A huge congratulations to our winners and highly commended runners-up.

Published: 12/02/2025

Peabody Neighbourhood Manager Nadia Da Fonseca has won the Bob Kerslake Apprentice of the year award for her dedication, initiative and ability to drive change. The award coincides with news that the Peabody Academy has received a top rating from Ofsted, putting it in the leading 1.2 percent of new training providers in the country.

Presenting the award at Peabody’s Apprenticeship Excellence Awards, Eleanor Kerslake, daughter of former Peabody Chair, the late Sir Bob Kerslake, said Nadia’s proactive approach and leadership had made a real difference across not only her team, but also the wider organisation. Neighbourhood Manager Andy Molloy was highly commended in the Apprentice of the year category.

The awards, now in their second year, honour apprentices and those who support them. Apprenticeships are a vital part of our workforce and economy, and bridge the gap between education and employment. The Peabody Academy, which has grown from 12 apprentices to 40 in just two years, last month received the highest available ranking of ‘significant progress’ in all three tested areas in its first monitoring visit from the education inspector Ofsted.

“Apprenticeships have the potential to shape futures, transform lives and drive innovation,” said Tracy Round-Turner, Assistant Director of the Peabody Academy. “These awards are about celebrating the achievements, dedication and hard work of our apprentices, their mentors and the teams who support them.

“The Ofsted rating is confirmation that we’re doing things right. We set up the Academy to create a supportive community where talent can flourish and potential is unlocked, and it shows that this is what we’re doing.”

Writing in the Ofsted report, the inspectors said that “the leaders and managers are passionate about creating a culture of lifelong learning”. They also said that apprentices who have secured new roles or promotion cited the knowledge and confidence they gained through their apprenticeship as having “greatly contributed to their success”.

The other winners at the Peabody Awards were:

Supply Chain Partner of the Year Award

Winner	Axis Europe
Highly commended	Mullaley

Apprenticeship Champion of the Year Award

Winner	Sonal Amin-Smith, Advice & Wellbeing Manager
Highly commended	Corin Menuge, Social Value Lead

Line Manager of the Year Award

Winner	Pretti Sidhu, Area Manager, Neighbourhoods SW London
Highly commended	Nick Butler, Senior Team Leader, Collaboration & Complex Cases

Rising Star of the Year

Winner	Kruise Clarke, Legal Disrepair Coordinator
Highly commended	Uzondu Owoh, Team Manager for Homelessness & Transitions

Apprentice of the Year (Bob Kerslake Award)

Winner	Nadia Da Fonseca Ossmane, Neighbourhood Manager
Highly commended	Andy Molloy, Neighbourhood Manager