SHORTLIST: Nursery/Primary Teacher of the Year

ELIZABETH ROBERTSON - FEARNVILLE PRIMARY SCHOOL

Mrs Elizabeth Robertson works at Fearnville Primary School, and a nomination from a fellow teacher says: "Mrs Robertson definitely deserves an award for all her hard work, dedication and resilience!

"Not only is she a fantastic year three teacher but she has also taken on the role of key stage leader. I worked alongside Mrs Robertson for two years and it was a privilege to learn from such an experienced and devoted teacher.

"She has worked in Bradford primary schools for 20+ years and has even taught some of our current parents! What makes Mrs Robertson so special is nothing too fancy or over the top it's the fact that she does a lot of little things very very well.

"She has an unrivalled love for the children in her class and deeply cares about every aspect of their learning. She's got a fantastic relationship with the children and every child in the school knows what she expects in terms of work and behaviour.

"She also has an outstanding work ethic. Sh's at school working at 7am every morning when I arrive and sh's still there every night when I leave at 6pm. She then goes home and continues marking her books, making resources, planning lessons and responding to emails for the remaining available hours."

CAROLINE BOLTON - THACKLEY PRIMARY SCHOOL

Caroline Bolton, Key Stage One Leader & SENCO at Thackley Primary School. A nomination from a parent reads: "Mrs Bolton’s enthusiasm and passion for her class, together with her innovative teaching and learning strategies, ensures that the children are always highly engaged in her classroom.

"To me, Mrs Bolton stands out from the crowd for her commitment. The impact of her work on her children is huge and I can see how incredibly dedicated she is to them all.

"My son is a quiet character, doesn’t speak out loud, doesn’t raise his hand and maybe lacks a little confidence. He is a little boy that I think could have quite easily been left behind if Mrs Bolton hadn’t taken the time to get to know him and push him in the direction he needed to be pushed in order for him to do well.

Watching Mrs. Bolton in action, her fantastic rapport with the children and the reciprocated devotion are immediately apparent. She has a clever way of using humour to bring out the best in every child, no matter what their ability."

SARAH CLARK - CAVENDISH PRIMARY SCHOOL

A teacher at Cavendish Primary School in Bradford, Sarah Clark has been praised for the amount of work she puts in with pupils. One parent wrote: "When my daughter Alex joined Mrs Clarks' Class in September 2013 she was undergoing assessment for Autistic Spectrum disorder. Alex had been really unhappy in school for the previous years.

"When Alex went to Mrs Clarks' class her anxiety levels were at an all time low and her self esteem was almost non existent. I was really seriously considering home schooling Alex and was seriously doubting that she would be able to continue in school as she spent most of her time there not speaking mixing and mostly staring into space.

"Then Alex met the most wonderful teacher Mrs Clark put so much in to helping Alex with her confidence issues. Mrs Clark bought Alex a notebook so that if she needed to tell her something but anxieties took over she could write her a note.

"Alex will always have autism and school will always be hard for her, but she will always have that one magical year to build her confidence from and as a family we were able to access a 1D and a Little Mix Concert and even a holiday, because by Mrs Clark helping Alex feel like 'somebody' at school she also gave our family a lifeline to try new things."

Hays Education is the largest recruiter of teachers and support staff in the UK. Established in 1996, we have been working closely with schools in the Bradford district for 19 years

Last year we helped 317 teachers and support staff find a permanent job in a Bradford school and to have provided schools with over 150 temporary supply staff every week