NOT one but three local schools are in the running for the country’s top education awards.

A trio of schools have been shortlisted for the prestigious TES Schools Awards 2018.

Andy Done, deputy headteacher at Masefield Primary School in Little Lever is up for Maths Teacher of the Year, St Peter’s CE Primary School in Farnworth has been nominated for Employer of the Year Award and Birtenshaw School in Bromley Cross is competing for the Healthy School of the Year Award.

Mr Done and representatives from the other schools will enjoy afternoon tea at the House of Commons before enjoying the red carpet treatment at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London on June 22.

Mr Done, who has been at Masefield Primary for two years, said: “I was shocked and surprised to be nominated. I love the job I do and enjoying getting up in the morning to go and inspire the next generation.”

He was nominated by LBQ, Learning By Questions, an education organisation Mr Done works with. The nomination comes as the school celebrated its best Key Stage Two maths results.

“Everyone in the school is overwhelming supportive and promotes a love of learning among children, which is behind everything I do,” said Mr Done, who said to have a number schools nominated from Bolton as a great reflection of education in the town.

Headteacher of St Peter’s CE Primary School, Lynn Williams said it is an honour to be shortlisted.

She said: “The school has a long established relationship with Investors in People and recognises the importance of ensuring staff are fully trained and given the appropriate skills to carry our their roles

effectively.

The staff of St. Peter’s are relentless in their drive to innovate and improve, in order to ensure that all pupils succeed, regardless of their socio-economic background.”

She added :”Beyond the pupils of St Peter’s we also reach out to other schools and pupils in our role as a National Support School designated by NCTL June 2016.

“Our team of SLEs, led by the headteacher who is an NLE contribute to school improvement work across Bolton and indeed in to Manchester.

“We also invest in the future generation of teachers by offering a highly regarded initial teacher training programme, School Direct, seeking in particular to train exceptional graduates from the local area, thus investing in the future of education in Farnworth.

We are also working towards the achievement of the BPTAA ( Better partnership with Teaching Assistants award) which we hope to achieve in July this year.”

TES editor Ann Mroz said: "It is wonderful to see such innovative ideas and best-practice emerging from our schools and teachers, despite the current squeeze on funding. We had a record year for entries and the standard was the best so far – all those shortlisted should be very proud: it’s an extraordinary achievement."