THE Telegraph & Argus is once again looking to celebrate the good work being done in schools across the district.

Later this week we will be opening nominations for our annual Schools Awards, which take place in March.

The awards were set up to recognise the work that goes on all the time in Bradford’s schools, and celebrate the people who dedicate their lives to improving the chances of the district’s young people.

We are asking readers to let us know who they feel should be recognised for their hard work. There are 12 different categories that represent the full spectrum of school life.

As well as best primary and secondary school teachers and school leaders, the awards recognise volunteers who work in schools, partnerships between schools and groups such as businesses or arts organisations and governors who work behind the scenes to make a school great.

Nominations will officially open on Wednesday, and remain open until the end of the school term at the end of December. Judges will then come up with a shortlist of three nominees per category with the winners announced at a black-tie awards ceremony, held at the Aagrah Midpoint in Thornbury in March and attended by hundreds of people from schools, sponsors and education partners.

The awards started as a partnership between the T&A, Bradford Council, the University of Bradford, and several other education and business partners and has gone from strength to strength since the first awards in 2014.

Since then 36 awards have been given out to people from a wide variety of backgrounds, who perform a host of different functions in the district’s hundreds of schools.

We are asking for nominations from parents, pupils and the wider community, as well as staff at schools, who are invited to nominate their colleagues or nominate themselves.

Previous winners have included new teachers who have made an instant impact, heads who have helped educate hundreds of young pupils over years of leadership, and support staff who are just as big a part of school life as any teacher.

The awards are not a popularity contest – while we want to get as many nominations as possible from right across the Bradford district, it doesn’t necessarily follow that schools, teachers or individuals with the most nominations will automatically get shortlisted.

We are looking for the quality of nominations, not the number submitted.

Wednesday’s T&A will include a Schools Awards supplement looking back at previous years’ ceremonies and winners.

Each of the 12 categories has its own page with the criteria for each award, information about the sponsor and an example of previous winners.

We ask people to read each category carefully, and decide which one best fits the person, group or school they want to nominate.

There are plenty of people and schools out there deserving of the awards – now it is up to the public to tell us who they think should be nominated.

People will be able to make nominations from Wednesday using the form in that day’s T&A, or by filling out an online form on telegraphandargus.co.uk/schoolsawards