VILLAGE school teacher Alison Metcalfe is in line to win a regional award in this year's Teaching Awards.

Mrs Metcalfe teaches the youngest children at Sutton-on-the-Forest CE Primary School, near Easingwold.

She is one of five regional finalists in the primary teacher of the year category, and will attend a ceremony in Sheffield next Wednesday.

Mrs Metcalfe, a mum-of-two from Harome, near Helmsley, was nominated by parents at the school, who were backed by the governors and staff.

She has been teaching for 25 years, and has spent the last ten at Sutton where she teaches the reception and Year One children.

She said: "The parents asked me if they could put me forward and it was an honour."

Headteacher Sue Ratcliffe said: "Mrs Metcalfe commands great respect with parents, and the children absolutely adore her because she's so friendly and warm and open, and she's a really great member of staff because she gives more than 100 per cent. She's the kind of person you want in a school."

Each category winner will be awarded a £2,000 cash grant for their school at the ceremony on Wednesday, and will then go through to the national finals in October.

York and North Yorkshire have already seen two national winners in the awards since they were launched in 1999.

Norma Machell, from Scarcroft Primary School in York, was primary teacher of the year in 1999, and music teacher Cathy Roberts, from St Aidan's CE School in Harrogate, was last year's secondary teacher of the year.

- Sue Ratcliffe is leaving Sutton at the end of this year to take up a new job at Castle CE Junior School in Knaresborough. The new head will be Joyce Botham, currently deputy head at Dunnington CE Primary in York.

Updated: 11:10 Saturday, June 30, 2001