School PE lessons aren’t just about understanding the rules of netball, or trying and failing to put the shot - they’re where children learn about everything from teamwork and leadership to fairness and healthy competition.

Which is why Kent Sport, which promotes sport across the county, is hoping plenty of PE teachers will be nominated in the Kent Teacher of the Year Awards – because they help children develop values and skills which will last throughout their lives.

“Sport is a common ground, something that brings children together, especially in primary school,” explained board member Clare Maclean-Bell.

“A good PE teacher is not just about the sport- it’s about the motivation they can provide and their ability to release children’s enthusiasm. Every child is different- it’s about finding the genius in each child.

“Teachers are angels. I do a lot of work with children and I couldn’t do it all day every day for weeks on end. They have to have the patience of saints.”

Particularly celestial, according to Clare, is Mrs Gardner, a teaching assistant at Chilton Primary School in Ramsgate, where her four-year son William attends nursery.

“What I particularly love is that she just has a magical personality, a magical way about her. When a kid falls over or wants to share something exciting, they will run to her,” Clare said. “She is like the glue that holds all the kids together. I love this woman just for her energy.”

Anyone who does paid or unpaid work in a school or further education college in Kent, Bromley, or Bexley can be nominated for a Kent Teacher of the Year Award – including teachers, volunteers, governors, and non-teaching staff like secretaries and lunchtime supervisors.

Members of the public and schools can submit nominations either for individuals or whole teams, before the deadline of this Wednesday, March 7. The winners will be invited to an awards ceremony at the Mercure Great Danes Hotel in Maidstone in May.

The awards are organised by the KM Charity Team and supported by Kent County Council, the University of Kent, Kent Sport, Canterbury Christ Church University, the University of Greenwich, Three R’s Teacher Recruitment, MY Trust, Social Enterprise Kent, Beanstalk, CXK, Salus, LoopCR, Kreston Reeves, Kent Further Education, and Diggerland.

For more information or to make a nomination visit www.kentteacheroftheyear.co.uk.