Norma Machell, a teacher at York's Scarcroft primary School, was nominated in 1999 as the country's top primary school teacher - and only realised she had scooped the top award when Prime Minister Tony Blair turned up on a surprise visit to the school that July.

On Monday TV's Carol Smillie launched National Nominate a Teacher Week in a bid to generate candidates for this year's teaching honours which are sponsored by BT. The National Teaching Awards group is hoping that anyone who has known and been inspired by an outstanding teacher will be moved to nominate them for this year's teaching 'Oscars'.

Parents, colleagues, former pupils and school children in England, Wales and Northern Ireland can honour working teachers and teaching assistants by nominating them for one of the eight awards. The schools of winning teacher stand to gain from thousands of pounds worth of learning equipment in prizes.

Carol Smillie said, "The Teaching Awards are a fantastic way to thank those who do such an important job. This is our chance to celebrate the extraordinary work of ordinary teachers so please nominate now".

Back in 1999 Mrs Machell, who has been deputy head at Scarcroft School for the past 15 years, was nominated by school governors, colleagues and pupils.

She said, "It is a wonderful initiative and it is a fantastic boost just to be nominated. There are lots of dedicated and talented teachers in York schools and there is absolutely no reason why we couldn't have another winner."

Councillor Janet Looker, City of York Council's executive member for education, said, "It would be fantastic for York to have another winner."

Anyone wanting more information should log onto the awards web-site www.teachingawards.com and they can even make a nomination on line. Deadline for nominations is Thursday, February 28.

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Notes for Editors More information is available on http://www.teachingawards.com/ As the 'Oscars' of the teaching profession, the Teaching Awards aim to reward good practice and highlight the excellent work that teachers do every day across the country. There are eight categories to choose from, from The BT Award for Teacher of the Year to The Guardian Award for Outstanding New Teacher to The Leadership Trust Award for School Leadership. A new category - the BP Award for Science Year - has been introduced for 2002 to support Science Year, a UK-wide educational initiative funded by the DfES. In addition to the National Awards Ceremony shown on BBC 1, there are Regional Awards Ceremonies held across the country where hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash and equipment are awarded to the schools of hundreds of winners. The awards are open to all schools in England, Wales and Northern Ireland BT is the primary sponsor of the Teaching Awards 2002 and associate sponsors are BP, The Guardian and The Leadership Trust Nomination categories are: o BT Award for Teacher of the Year o BP Award for Science Year, The Leadership Trust Award for School Leadership o Guardian Award for Outstanding New Teacher o Award for School and Community Involvement o Award for Excellence in Special Needs Teaching o Award for Teaching Assistant of the Year o Award for Lifetime Achievement