FOR Teacher of the Year nominee Josie Wood, the most fulfilling part of the job is seeing pupils develop.

Nominations sent to the Gazette praised her hard work in making sure pupils at Slimbridge Primary achieve their potential regardless of whether they are in her class.

For Mrs Wood, who teaches Years 3 and 4 pupils at the school, teaching is a ‘passion’ and her work has become a part of life.

“A teacher is not just a teacher at work,” she told the Gazette. “It becomes a part of your life and something always with you.

“It’s got to be a passion, something you care about and it definitely is for me.”

Mrs Wood, 28, got into teaching whilst in sixth form at Rednock School, Dursley, where she would volunteer at the then Highfields School (now Dursley Primary School).

“I spent an afternoon a week at Highfields working in the classroom.

“The school was really supportive and after a while they let me take bits of lessons.”

After teaching at a primary school in Swindon for a few years, she is now in her second year teaching at Slimbridge but those past pupils have not been forgotten, with class photos adorning a cupboard door in the classroom.

She added: “I get so much joy looking back at the end of the year through everyone’s books and seeing how they’ve all developed.

“Everyone has their own distinct personality but it’s lovely to see how this is developed whilst they’re at school.”

Entries for the competition close on Saturday, with one winner selected for the Stroud district area (Dursley, Cam, Berkeley and Wotton), another for the Thornbury patch and also a winner for Yate and Chipping Sodbury.

Their prize will be a meal-for-two at one of the Gazette’s Pub of the Year winners – The Falcon Steakhouse in Wotton; The Royal Oak in Cromhall; or the Rose and Crown in Rangeworthy – and a trophy.

To nominate someone, fill in and post the form to Teacher of the Year, Gazette, 6 Lansdown, Stroud, GL5 1B.