Teacher of the year

Her pupils at Oliver Tomkins School are very lucky to have such a dynamic, talented person play a major role in their education.

The same goes for the pupils of every teacher nominated for the accolade, because the overall quality of the entries was very high indeed.

We hope there are even more nominees next time, because we have a feeling that there are plenty of other very talented teachers out there who deserve their moment in the sun.

For a profession which is shown far too little respect by certain politicians of all parties, it is remarkable and quite wonderful that it still attracts such excellent people.

They soldier on in spite of less than wonderful salaries and an uncertain regime of inspections and odd official directives.

Any young teacher who doubts their vocation or feels under-appreciated would do well to remember people such as Stewart Smith, whose story we also tell today as he retires after 45 years in education.

He now moves on to the next phase of his life, secure in the knowledge that his work made a difference to countless thousands of young people.

It is impossible to calculate how many young people he influenced into making the very best of themselves and their abilities, but like any good teacher he is one of the few members of the population who can be sure their influence will still be felt generations from now.

There is scarcely any high achiever who doesn’t remember an inspirational teacher helping to set them on the right path.