The Bradford and District Schools Awards, held last night and organised by the Telegraph & Argus with support from Bradford Council and the University of Bradford, were a great success.

No-one who was there, or who reads about them today, can deny that whatever placings Bradford is given in national education league tables, there is some fantastic work being done in the district’s schools at all levels.

What our awards showed was that the good work done by teachers, support staff, parents and pupils cannot just be measured in figures and reports. To do so ignores the humanity on which our schools operate, and the fact that first and foremost it is the people who make a school a success.

We heard many fantastic, uplifting and moving stories throughout the course of organising and judging the Schools Awards. Stories of hard work, of commitment, of people going the extra mile, of inspirational teachers.

Perhaps the most moving story of them all was that of Tracey Askham, the Immanuel College teacher who sadly lost her life in an accident in a supermarket car park last year. Mrs Askham, nominated by her colleagues and, crucially, her pupils, was posthumously awarded the Secondary Teacher of the Year.

Her legacy lives on in the pupils she inspired, but the spirit of what she achieved is also being replicated and put into action in schools across the district, as our awards proved.

It was an immense pleasure to honour schools, staff and volunteers in this way, and the success stories you read today and in next Wednesday’s special awards supplement should prove that education in Bradford is in very good hands indeed.