The county’s pinnacle of P.E. teachers will be revealed at the Kent Teacher of the Year Awards – and there’s still time to nominate your school or college’s star sports instructor.

Kent Sport, which promotes sport across the region, is backing the physical education award category and encouraging all school staff, parents and students to submit nominations before the March 1 deadline.

Stuart Butler, Voluntary Sector Development Officer at Kent Sport, said he was “really excited” to be joining this year’s judging panel.

“We’re looking for great P.E. teachers,” he said, “who can really create a habit for life which will keep children involved in sport - and hopefully sow the seeds so they go on and stay involved in sport for the rest of their lives.”

The Kent Teacher of the Year Awards are organised by the KM Charity Team and open to nominations for any member of staff or volunteer in the county’s schools.

Award categories include primary, secondary, newly-qualified and further education teachers, along with non-teaching members of staff such as caretakers or secretaries. The event also offers a volunteer award and team of the year award – ensuring that anyone at a school can have their chance to shine.

A panel of judges will select winners for each local authority area as well as overall county champions. Judging the entries will be representatives from the University of Kent, University of Greenwich, Kreston Reeves, Social Enterprise Kent, Medway Youth Trust, Canterbury Christ Church University, Loop CR, Salus, Diggerland, Kent Further Education, Kape HR, KCS, Towergate Insurance, The Education People, EduKit, Kent County Council, Medway Council, Three R’s Teacher Recruitment, and Hornby.

Around 50 district winners will be invited to a glittering awards dinner staged at the Ashford International Hotel in May. A booklet featuring details on why each winner was chosen will be distributed across Kent and Medway schools to share best practice.

To nominate, visit www.KentTeacherOfTheYear.co.uk

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