Editor’s introduction

More teachers recognise the purpose of these awards: to celebrate the fact that the best schools work as teams.

When we held the first TES Schools Awards last year, it was hard for us to believe we would ever receive such a strong batch of nominations again. Yet this year’s entries were of an even higher standard, with hundreds more schools presenting dazzlingly creative and ambitious work.

Crucially, more teachers seemed to recognise the purpose of these awards: to celebrate the fact that the best schools work as teams. This was clearly true at the winning schools in this booklet.

It may seem ironic, then, that one of the new awards is for an individual. But if you read about our first Lifetime Achievement winner, you’ll see that he is the epitome of a team player.

We are very grateful to our panel of distinguished judges, who faced an extremely difficult task deciding between those on the shortlist. We are also proud to support one of our judges’ work, as our sponsored charity this year is the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust, which inspires young people to fulfil their potential in sport, and may help to create the Olympic athletes of tomorrow.