Government's flagship academies accused of outbidding neighbouring schools by offering six-figure salaried posts

• We were grateful to many of the regional winners of the Outstanding New Teacher of the Year, the category of the 2001 Teaching Awards sponsored by the Guardian, for taking valuable time out in the second week of their new term to pay us a visit in Farringdon Road last week. With little more than a month to go before the National Awards ceremony at the Theatre Royal in Haymarket (and a weekend of workshops and bonding to boot) we wanted to meet our regional winners and, importantly, get them to meet each other before the nerve-wracking "grand finale" on October 28, which will be televised by the BBC. The editor of the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, welcomed our guests and explained why education is so important to the group. And after enjoying a slap-up lunch in the boardroom and a tour of the Guardian and Observer, the winners took part in a question and answer session chaired by journalist Jerome Monahan. The results, to be published shortly in this section, should make fascinating reading.