We work across a wide range of sectors from growing e-commerce businesses to established professional services brands. But every so often, something lands on your desk that is a bit different; a project where the work can do more than drive conversations. thankateacher.co.uk is one of those projects
A campaign that reaches millions
Thank a Teacher is a national campaign run by the Teaching Awards Trust, a registered charity with cross-party political support, backing from teaching unions and the BBC as a long-standing media partner.
In 2025, National Thank a Teacher Day reached over 80 million people with coverage on BBC Breakfast, The One Show, and ITV’s This Morning, plus national press including The Mirror, The Sun, and the Daily Mail. Partners include the Department for Education, Tesco, and BBC Bitesize, with Pixie Lott among its high-profile supporters.
Our job was to build and maintain the digital infrastructure that makes the campaign actually work at that scale.
What we actually built
The site looks simple. The backend isn’t.
At its core is the personalised e-card system build on WordPress, extended with a custom React dashboard that handles real-time tracking and anlytics. Senders can confirm their card has arrived while schools can log in to manage their messages and monitor their engagement throughout the year.
There’s also a live heatmap showing campaign reach across the UK in real time, so schools, trusts, and partners can see the national picture as it unfolds.
For multi-academy trusts, we built a batch messaging platform that lets them send messages across multiple schools and staff, with full engagement tracking so they can see open rates, and reach.
Beyond the cards, the platform hosts teacher stories, video content, competition entries, classroom activity packs, and PSHE curriculum resources for all key stages. It serves four different audiences: parents, schools, multi-academy trusts, and governors. Each has its own section with tailored content and appropriate calls to action. Making the navigation feel simple to every visitor is the point of good UX. The complexity lives in the architecture.
The site works hard all year and then works considerably harder every June when a national wave of appreciation brings a significant spike in traffic. Handling that reliably, year after year, is the quiet work of good web development.
It also has to handle a sharp, predictable traffic spike every June when the national campaign peaks. Handling that reliably, year after year, is the quiet work of good web development.
Why it matters
Organisations doing important work deserve digital platforms equal to their ambitions. The Thank a Teacher platform isn’t just a front door; it’s how the Trust delivers its purpose at scale. Every card sent and every staff recognition managed across dozens of schools runs through the platform we built.
If you’re doing work that matters and your website isn’t keeping up, we’d love to have a conversation. The Thank a Teacher campaign is proof of what’s possible when the digital infrastructure actually matches the ambition behind it.
Send a card
If there’s a teacher, past or present, who deserves a moment of recognition, head to thankateacher.co.uk and send them a free card. It takes two minutes.