This category recognises teachers who have made an instant impact in their first two years on the job. It is sponsored by Northern Lights School Centred Initial Teacher Training.

Naomi Simpson, Hazelbeck Special School

NAOMI Simpson recently started working at Hazelbeck Special School in Bingley.
Miss Simpson was previously a TA in Southfield Special School in Bradford before starting her NQT year at Hazelbeck in September.
She teaches a class of ten pupils with very complex needs.
Deputy head Beth McPhail said: “She was a fantastic candidate and is a really enthusiastic teacher who takes the time to really get to know the students. 
“You can tell she wants to know what makes them tick and what will work for them to help them make progress.”
Miss Simpson was very humble about her nomination, adding: “It doesn’t really feel like a job, it’s the most rewarding thing.
“Working with sensory students, I learn from them just as much at they learn from me.”
Talking about finding out she had made the shortlist, she said: “At first I thought ‘is this a joke?’
“I don’t feel like I do anything special at all. 
“The school is absolutely incredible, and there are so many people who deserve awards every day. 
“The leadership here is so positive, and so so supportive. 
“I’m very honoured, very privileged, but a little bit embarrassed!”

Emma Wilde, Dixons Allerton Academy

EMMA Wilde, a primary teacher at Dixons Allerton Academy, was described as an “outstanding” natural teacher in her nomination.
The anonymous nomination said: “She is passionate, enthusiastic and dedicated to ensuring all pupils in her care are supported to progress both academically as well as socially and emotionally.
“She is inspirational and full of energy. Emma is determined and gives so much.”
School head Chris Currie said she had made a huge impact at the school, adding: “She is an inspiration to the children, to other teachers, support staff around her and senior leaders.
“She’s got energy, she’s got drive, she’s determined. 
“She’s an inspiration in every sense of the word, in the classroom, out of the classroom, around school. She is a genuinely wonderful person to have in our school.
“The children in her class know she deserves this, and the parents of the children in her class know she deserves this.”
Mrs Wilde said she was very shocked, but happy to have been nominated, and said her class were “very supportive,” although they were likely to take the praise for the award. 
But she added: “I’m only the teacher I am because of the students I have.”

Hazel Namvar, St Luke's CofE

HAZEL Namvar was nominated for Newcomer of the Year after she returned to the primary school she was taught in as a teacher.
St Luke’s CofE Primary School head Sarah Horsbrough nominated Miss Namvar for the award for being a great role model for pupils.
She started out as a teaching assistant, then as an HLTA, before training to be a qualified teacher. She started at St Luke’s, in Eccleshill, as an NQT in September 2015, and colleagues say she has had an instant impact on school life.
Mrs Horsbrough’s nomination said: “Hazel has worked incredibly hard during the last year to support the children in her class. She is a positive force of nature in our school and has not only been supportive of our children but of her staff colleagues too.
“She deserved to be nominated for being such a new teacher who has had such a big impact on a school.”
Miss Namvar was told about being shortlisted in front of her excited pupils. She said: “My fondest memories of growing up were all made here, so the day I qualified I said ‘I’m going back.’.
“There are still teachers here that were here when I was a pupil, and these are the people who really inspired me to be a teacher.”