Chichester BID backs new 'teacher of the year' competition

Chichester residents are being encouraged to nominate a teacher in a newly launched Teacher of the Year competition, with £1250 in Chichester Gift Cards as a possible prize.

The Chichester Gift Card from Chichester BID launched in 2018 and can be spent with over 170 businesses in the city, including shops, restaurants and salons, giving people an easy way to support local. A digital version of the card was unveiled in 2022 and an Alive After Five Gift Card for the night time economy in 2023.

All types of teachers are eligible to be nominated for the Teacher of the Year award, including primary school teachers, secondary school teachers, special educational needs teachers, early years teachers, teaching assistants and headteachers. To nominate a teacher, people simply give the teacher’s name and a reason that they deserve to be the Teacher of the Year.

The teacher who receives the most votes will be crowned as Teacher of the Year, with £1250 in Chichester Gift Cards as a possible prize. The £1250 in Chichester Gift Cards will be awarded as a £500 gift card for the Teacher of the Year, a £500 gift card for the Teacher of the Year’s school, and a £250 gift card to one person who nominates the Teacher of the Year.

Helen Marshall, CEO and Chair of Chichester BID, said the Teacher of the Year competition is a chance to celebrate hard working teachers in Chichester:

“We know how many hard working teachers there are in Chichester and this competition is a chance for people to nominate a teacher who has had a positive impact on pupils, their school or their community.

"£1250 in Chichester Gift Cards is a great prize and the flexibility and choice on offer through the card gives the Teacher of the Year, their school, and one person who nominated them lots of options for how to spend their gift cards.

“It takes just 2 minutes to nominate and we hope to see lots of nominations from Chichester”

The Chichester Gift Card is part of the award-winning Town & City Gift Card concept from fintech Miconex.

Colin Munro is the managing director of Miconex and said: “Schools, and teachers, are at the heart of our communities, and our Teacher of the Year competition is a celebration of the teachers who are going above and beyond to educate, help and inspire young people. We’ll be telling the stories of the nominations as they come in, giving teachers the recognition they deserve.”

Craig Forsythe, CEO & founder at GiftRound, said: “We started working with Town & City Gift Cards because a group of parents collecting for a teacher’s gift asked for their local gift card to be added to the GiftRound store, leading to the onboarding of local gift cards across the UK and Ireland, including the Chichester Gift Card.

“We’re delighted to sponsor the Teacher of the Year competition and we look forward to reading the entries.” You can nominate a teacher in the Teacher of the Year competition at teacheroftheyear.co.uk.

The closing date for entries is the 31st August 2024 at midnight. The Teacher of the Year will be announced in September 2024.