THERE are only days left for nominations to be entered for the Argus’ Gwent Schools Awards.

We want to recognise the extraordinary hard work and dedication that people working in education deliver on a daily basis. The Creativity and Innovation Award aims to acknowledge the work done by schools and individuals in Gwent.

David Powell, founder of Upbeat Music and Arts Services, was one nominee in this category. Mr Powell began his career working as a primary school teacher in Gaer primary school.

“I joined the local authority music service in 2000, and I opted or voluntary redundancy in 2013. I felt there was a need for specialist arts teachers and it was a case a looking what the education sector needed and then trying to supply what the schools need.”

The Cwmbran based team offer a range of percussion workshops and experiences for all ages and abilities. The main instrument the service use is percussion because they are instantly accessible and are able to be used immediately. Upbeat work with schools and a range of organisations and have now grown to 27 people. In 2016 they worked with 200 schools.

“Speaking and listening is at the top of our agenda so what we find is that feedback is that teachers are quite astonished at some of the harder to reach students are more engaged and how much they apply themselves.”

Mr Powell says that they plan to work with many more schools and organisations in the coming months. More information about their services can be found at upbeatmusicandarts.co.uk.

For anyone still wishing to nominate a teacher that has inspired them, entries must be submitted by January 13 at the latest.

There are 13 categories in total and anyone can send in a nomination for free at southwalesargus.co.uk/gwentschoolsawards.