HEAD Teachers often get a hard time, but they are at the forefront of education.

One person nominated for a Gwent Schools' Award was Jonathan Bussy of Nant Celyn Primary, Cwmbran. “It’s humbling to be nominated. I haven’t been at the school very long, only 12 months. I have been very lucky to join a school with a massively talented staff. They are very caring with the children and very understanding of their needs.”

Mr Bussy, who is originally from Rochdale, has been living in Cwmbran for 15 years. His own children attend schools in the town and he enjoys being a part of the local community.

“It’s nice to be part of school community and bump into people in town. The community has been very welcoming as has everyone at the school. I did get funny looks when I was stood at the gate the first morning, but the parents have been very friendly and supportive.”

Nominated for the Head Teacher of the Year Award by a number of parents, Mr Bussy has put in a lot of new ideas in place since he began, although he does say he can’t take credit for them. “All I’ve done is free staff up to do things they always wanted to do. They have so many ideas, I just said go ahead.”

The school are currently installing a crazy golf course for the children, and when they asked if they could play in the woods the school cleared up the wooded area and they can now use it to play in.

“Our choir sang on stage when they turned on the Christmas lights in Cwmbran. We just started our rock band and we are really keen involved in local events like choral festival dancing festival. We are involved in the Coed Eva allotments and tidying local woods, and we are keen to start dance competition between schools in Torfaen that will take place in the Congress Theatre.”

Mr Bussy says he is thankful for the welcome he has had from everyone involved with the school. “I want to say a big thank you to the governors, parents and staff for putting their faith in me. We will try everything, and if something doesn’t work we learn from it and we do something different. Children fantastic and so grateful or everything we do.”

The deadline has been extended for nominations in the South Wales Argus’ Gwent Schools Awards.

Exceptional teachers from the region will be celebrated when the awards are announced at a presentation evening on March 10 at the Coldra Court Hotel. All entries must be submitted by 5pm, January 20.

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