Two teachers from York were today celebrating with pupils and colleagues after being named regional teachers of the year.

Norma Machell, from Scarcroft Primary School, and Sally Hicks, from Fulford Cross School, won top awards in the Yorkshire finals of the 1999 Teaching Awards, held at the Royal Armouries, Leeds.

It is the first year the new awards have been run and the two will now go forward to the national finals which are being held in London in July.

Governors, staff, parents and pupils put together portfolios of comments to back up their nominations and judges visited the school to watch them at work.Mrs Machell, 53, from Flaxton, near York, was named Primary Teacher of the Year.

She has been deputy head at the school for 13 years and has taught the top class, Year Six, for the last six years.

She said: "I'm just coming down to earth. It's amazing to have something like this at the twilight of my career. It was nice to know that the governors, teachers, pupils and parents thought I made a difference in some way - that in itself is the reward."

She said the awards ceremony had topped an eventful week after her daughter Jennifer got married on Saturday.

Mrs Machell, who trained at the College of Ripon and York St John, has also worked at Tadcaster County Junior School and Bishopthorpe and Rawcliffe Infant Schools in York.

She said: "I've always had an 'expanding practice' - whenever we have students in or new teachers then I learn from their practice - I'll still be learning the day I retire."

Lynn Coop, chairman of the Governors at Scarcroft, said: "We're delighted with the result and think she's a wonderful teacher - as one of the children said 'she's the best teacher in the world'."

Ms Hicks, who has been at Fulford Cross School for nine years, picked up the award for Teacher of the Year in a Special School.

She teaches children aged between 11 and 16 with moderate learning difficulties and prepares the older ones for taking the Certificate of Achievement, designed for pupils who find reading and writing difficult.

She said: "It was nice to raise the profile for the teaching profession and special schools like Fulford Cross."

Ms Hicks, 40, who lives in Heworth and has a five-year-old son, Jamie, previously taught at Joseph Rowntree School in York.

She said she enjoyed motivating children and making learning fun. "With these children, it is about concentrating on how, not what, you're teaching - you're constantly trying to find different ways of introducing things to children," she said.

Cai Mallett, chairman of the Governors at Fulford Cross, said: "We nominated her as a member of a team and the whole team is an excellent one. Sally is really quite unique. She works very well with the children, staff and parents and she really deserves to get this award."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.