Let us know about education staff who are inspiring you

Do you know a fantastic teacher or school volunteer whose dedication to their pupils is inspiring?

Then now is your chance to nominate them for a Kent Teacher of the Year Award and help them get the recognition they deserve. Anyone who does paid or unpaid work in a school can be nominated and anyone can nominate them – colleagues, parents, and even pupils.

A panel of judges will choose winners in categories including primary teacher, secondary teacher, newly qualified teacher, non-teaching staff such as dinner supervisors and caretakers and volunteers – including reading volunteers, PTA members, governors and parent helpers.

The deadline for nominations is Thursday, March 1 and the winners will be revealed at an awards dinner in May at the Mercure Great Danes Hotel in Hollingbourne. The launch was staged at the hotel with repre- sentatives from Kent County Council, the University of Kent, Kent Sport, Canterbury Christ Church University, the University of Greenwich, Three R’s Teacher Recruitment, Medway Youth Trust, Social Enterprise Kent, Beanstalk, CXK, Salus, Loopcr, Kreston Reeves, and Diggerland.

Simon Dolby of organisers the KM Charity Team said: “We started these awards to mark the vital contribution that teaching staff make to our community, and to recognise the expertise and dedication that is the hallmark of an outstanding teacher.

“A good teacher can change someone’s life. Many of us remember with great fondness a teacher who instilled a love of a subject in us – maybe shaping what we went on to study at university or do for a career.

“Yet teachers remain underpaid, overworked, and undervalued. We hope we can do our bit to give confidence to nominees and winners and remind them that people do appreciate them.”

For more information, or to nominate, visit kentteacheroftheyear.co.uk

The launch event of the Kent Teacher of the Year