Vanessa Banks is currently a Teacher Associate at the Centre for Teaching Excelence, and a Primary Teacher working in Renfrewshire, where she has been involved in various areas of curriculum development and Practitioner Enquiry, supporting others through research-informed practice and Initial Teacher Education.

Participating in Education Scotland’s Aspiring to Middle Leadership, and Educators Leading Change Programmes, Vanessa has researched pedagogy and implemented change through practitioner enquiry.  As someone who is dedicated to improving outcomes for all children, she has extensively researched and then developed a child-centred approach to increase engagement, enjoyment and attainment in reading. 

Vanessa is an enthusiastic researcher and finds patterns and solutions that are unseen to others. In her role at the Centre for Teaching Excellence, Vanessa supports teachers in Practitioner Enquiry, Research Partnerships, and Professional Learning Communities.  Using national and international research to find innovative solutions for classrooms in Scotland, she uses her unique insight to adjust best practice to real classroom environments.

During her academic work and career, Vanessa has been recognised for her innovative and creative approaches, winning the Charles Oakley Prize and the Scotmid Prize while working towards her BA (Hons) in Retail Management, being Highly Commended for The Gift Association’s Gift of the Year for her inclusive, educational toy, which promoted creativity and wellbeing in children, and being Shortlisted in The Scottish Book Trust’s Reading Champion Awards 2025 for her transformative work in the classroom to raise attainment, engagement and enjoyment in reading.

• Researching Innovative Approaches to Learning

• Participating in and supporting others in Practitioner Enquiry

• Raising Attainment for All

• Reading Engagement and Enjoyment

• Initial Teacher Education

• Creative Solutions

• Measuring Impact to Re-evaluate and Improve