We are proud to say that 2025 has been yet another very successful year at Zest Education! All our staff have worked incredibly hard, often going above and beyond, to make every placement smooth and successful for our schools and candidates. We take pride in demonstrating our values of being personable, honest and professional every single day; it’s not just something we talk about, it’s something we live by. We understand the many challenges facing the education sector at the moment and do all we can to help and support our schools to ensure teachers can focus on doing their very best in the classroom. Here are a few ways we’ve given back to our schools, candidates and communities this year.
Schools
This year, Zest Education launched their Attendance and Behaviour Incentive, an initiative designed to help improve students absence and conduct in school, as we know this is a real key area of focus in education at the moment. Schools were able to choose a pupil from different year groups each term who had shown an improvement in their behaviour and/or attendance to receive a prize. The incentive has proven to be very successful and we are excited to roll this out to even more schools in the new academic year.
We believe all children should have access to sport, so in June we held a round-robin cricket tournament at Tamworth CC, giving primary schools pupils in the local area a chance to get into cricket and have some fun. Zest sponsored medals for the winners and made sure every participant took home a certificate. Zest also sponsored a girls football tournament with the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership which was a huge success and it was great to see so many girls getting involved!
Candidates
Our business is built on finding the very best candidates for schools so it only feels right that we give a little something back to the teachers that have gone the extra mile. This term we launched Zest Champions where we ask schools to nominate the supply teacher they feel needs to be celebrated each term. The chosen recipients are gifted a £10 Amazon voucher and a Zest Champion certificate, presented by one of our consultants, as a gesture to show their hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed! We also give £150 voucher for every person that registers and works 15 days for us, so if you are thinking about joining us then now is the perfect time!
Community
This year we have continued our partnership with Nurture Community CIC, a wonderful not-for-profit organisation that actively supports the community through creative engagement. With Zest’s support, Nurture has been able expand their activities, reach more individuals, and deliver high quality, creative learning experiences that otherwise would not be possible, for example, helping to source materials for workshops, providing staff to ensure sessions are consistent, safe and engaging, and funding accessible forest school and cooking sessions for SEN provisions. This has really broadened the range of activities Nurture can offer and strengthened their collaboration across the local community. We look forward to seeing this partnership continue to flourish in 2026!
We are also excited to be working with Mara, an organisation that helps you feel and perform at your best, through mindfulness activities combined with exercise. Founded in 2022, it started as a group of running friends with a unique approach; a belief that running with presence helps you go further. This year, that mission is now being introduced to schools, for both staff and pupils, in the form of workshops that aim to help people live life to the fullest, without negative thought and distraction. We can’t wait to see these sessions being rolled out into schools in the new year.
As well as working with local partnerships, we have also continued to help raise money for charities. We once again tasked our Zest employees to don their aprons and get baking for the Macmillan Coffee Morning and this Christmas we are donating all we can to our local Food Bank and sponsoring prizes to any local schools that take part in the St Giles Hospice Rudolph Run.
2026 is already shaping up to be another incredible year for Zest Education. A huge thank you to everyone who has been a part of our journey this year, we really couldn’t do this without you! Wishing you all a happy Christmas and a wonderful new year!
Zest Education is an award winning recruitment agency specialising in education recruitment, supplying teaching and support staff to educational settings across London, Staffordshire and the West Midlands.
Since 2014 Zest Education has been using their vast experience to build genuine relationships, making perfect matches for candidates and schools and ensuring the best results for everyone.
For further information on how Zest Education Ltd. can support your school, please visit www.zesteducation.co.uk
!