Kent Teacher of the Year Awards 2017

15 February 2017 - This post has been updated with the news that Nicki Chapman is now supporting the Kent Teacher of the Year Awards 2017

The county’s annual teaching awards are seeking strong subject leaders in education whose passion and expertise are helping pupils to flourish.

Nominations for the Kent Teacher of the Year Awards include the categories Secondary School Teacher, History Teacher, Computing Teacher and Volunteer. They recognise individuals responsible for outstanding teaching practice and inspirational support.

Judges of the awards are calling for nominations in these categories and urging members of the public, pupils and school staff to nominate those who have gone over and above to ensure that lives in Kent are richer through education

Patrick Tootal from the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust said: “It is very important that we encourage children to learn about history, our heritage and our great past. I think it is vital we don’t let history fall into the background as Kent is full of wonderful history and these teachers are fundamental to the young generation accessing it.”

Determined to find the praiseworthy Computing teachers making a difference, Richard Langshaw of LoopCR added: “We are part of the education process and we wanted to sponsor the IT category so teachers are recognised for the work they are doing. There is hardly a job out there these days that doesn’t require IT of some sort, so the role of teachers in this area is becoming ever more important.”

Beanstalk’s Kate Rumsby said: “We just want to celebrate the fact that there are all of these different inspirational volunteers that have a huge impact on children lives.”

Confident that The Secondary School Teacher of the year category will prove rich with worthy nominees for honours at the awards in 2017, Rose Carter, manager at the Medway Youth Trust, added: “Our aim is to prepare, improve and inspire students, so we are proud to be part of these awards as this is what teachers do on a daily basis.”

Members of the public and school staff can submit nominations at www.kentteacheroftheyear.co.uk by 8 March 2017.

Kent’s Nicki Chapman is backing the campaign to find top teachers.

The TV presenter, who grew up in Herne Bay, sent a message of support calling for top educators to be nominated and recognised at the Kent Teacher of the Year Awards 2017.

Now open for nominations, the Escape to the Country and Wanted Down Under presenter joined the drive for submissions and offered praise for the profession: “I feel passionately about teachers, especially teachers from Kent, my home country, we all know the difference they make to young peoples lives and we are very grateful”

Peter Manser of Kreston Reeves highlights the Business Manager award adding: “Schools now have multi million pound budgets and with the extra pressure on funding today the business manager role is essential for the delivery of quality education.”

Gill Cahill of charity CXK, which provides career guidance to young people in Kent, also called for nominations for the Career Award: “Its important we celebrate staff who are helping young people to identify the careers they might like to do when they are older”

Awards judge Rebecca Smith of Social Enterprise Kent agreed: “There is nothing more important than a young child being able to learn and develop and grow and good teaching is so important to that”

The awards are organised by the KM Charity Team in partnership with the KM Group. Organisations joining the judging panel include Kent County Council, Christ Church University, CXK, Kent Sport, Three R’s Teacher Recruitment, Social Enterprise Kent, Project Salus, Kreston Reeves, LoopCR, Trust Careers at Medway Youth Trust, Hornby, Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, Kent Libraries, the Mercure Great Danes Maidstone, Beanstalk.

Why not support your nomination on twitter #KMTOTY

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