We’re still here - and it feels like our role is now more crucial than ever. Today marks the final issue of Tes’ paper magazine, but this is a staging post, not an endpoint.

It is 111 years since the first issue of an educational supplement in The Times newspaper, 56 years since the launch of a distinct Scottish edition and 15 years since I started working for Tes. And throughout that time our role has been clear.

Tes, over all those years, has had a unique position: others may report on education, but we aim to see education through the eyes of educators. Teachers are the through-line of more than a century of publishing: we celebrate teachers, we reflect teachers’ concerns, we help teachers to navigate policy and pedagogy.

In nearly two years of Covid, I have received messages of support for Tes on a scale I’d never seen before. In the midst of a pandemic, our coverage has been welcomed for its swiftness, clarity, insight and accuracy, at a time when - with policy and practice goalposts constantly shifting - education professionals have had a huge amount to keep up with.

But it has also been wonderful to hear people say they have appreciated the tone and perspective of our coverage. We are here to shine a light on the experience of teachers and other educational professionals and to get answers to the many questions they have. Our aim is always to be supportive of teachers and, on any issue, to ask ourselves first: “What do teachers need to know about this?” This commitment to trying to make life and work easier for education staff, I’ve been told repeatedly, has never been more noticed and appreciated than during Covid.

In the final print issue, we look back at some of our most memorable magazine features of recent years. It’s an eclectic mix showing that Scottish education is fuelled by ingenuity, bravery and a determination to do the best for all children and young people.

These articles represent an enduring truth borne out in the pages of Tes over many decades: teaching is an idealistic, altruistic profession, driven by a burning desire to help give the best start to young lives - and, ultimately, to make the world a better place.

This is why working for Tes is fulfilling, why I and Tes Scotland reporter Emma Seith have been here so long - you feel like you’re part of something essential and good when you’re on the side of teachers. This ensures that, even when we have tough days at work, we can tap into reserves of energy and motivation that would not be there in less rewarding jobs than ours.

It’s only appropriate, then, that in the final print issue, Emma and I - and our Tes editorial colleagues - look back on the teachers who inspired us many years ago. A wonderful reality about teaching is that the influence of a great teacher can last a lifetime. You remember how a teacher lifted your spirits on a bad day, how they saw potential in you that you didn’t see yourself, the times when they made a barrier to understanding a difficult concept just melt away. Sometimes a few words of praise or insight from a teacher - that they might forget themselves moments later - spark a fire that never goes out.

We, at Tes and Tes Scotland, are not going anywhere. As we move to an entirely digital form at tes.com in January, we will be sharing our work differently but the presence of Tes Scotland has never felt more important, and we are more committed than ever to our readers. A very merry Christmas and a happy new year to all of you - and we’ll see you in 2022.

Henry Hepburn is news editor at Tes Scotland

This article originally appeared in the 24 December 2021 issue under the headline “In Tes’ new era, our commitment to teachers is stronger than ever”