AN AWARD-WINNING teacher at a York special school was meeting the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh today at Buckingham Palace.

Sally Hicks, a teacher at Fulford Cross School, was at a Royal reception after scooping the Northern region award for Teacher Of The Year In A Special School last May.

She joined other teachers from around the country at the reception to mark achievement in schools.

Ms Hicks said she was very surprised to receive a letter with Buckingham Palace written on the envelope.

"I was quizzical more than anything," she said.

"I didn't think I would be receiving anything from there until I was a hundred years old, so I thought it had come 60 years too early," she joked.

Ms Hicks said: "We are all supposed to be arriving for 6pm but I don't really know much more than that. There will be teachers from all over the country and I think there are one or two others from York, so I won't be alone."

Ms Hicks has been at Fulford Cross School for ten years and teaches children between 11 and 16 with moderate learning difficulties.

She also prepares the older pupils for taking the Certificate Of Achievement, designed for children who find reading and writing difficult.

Joan Lock, head teacher at the school, said: "We are absolutely delighted that our school is being represented at the Royal reception.

"It shows the hard work and dedication that our staff demonstrate to the pupils."