AN ENGLISH teacher hopes to scoop a national teaching award after being nominated by pupils past and present.

Ann Marie Golding, who teaches at Churchfields School, says her nomination for the National Teaching Awards is a dream come true.

The Teaching Awards are an annual celebration of teaching and learning which provide a unique opportunity for pupils to say a special thank you to inspirational and dedicated teachers.

The 49-year-old, of Liden, said it was an honour to be thought so highly of by pupils she has taught.

“I absolutely adore teaching. I teach from the heart and my door is always open at lunch time and break time,” she said.

“It’s so lovely to know I have made a difference “And it’s nice to know in this day and age people have taken the trouble to vote.

“You think ‘wow, it’s from them.’”

She has been nominated by three seperate students and said she was overwhelmed by it.

“It is just something not a lot of students are aware of,” she said.

“I feel so overwhelmed they have taken the time to vote, it makes it all worthwhile.

“Schools can get so caught up in Ofsteds and what people who are not taught there think of them that it means so much when someone takes time to make a nomination.”

Miss Golding, who has five children and two grandchildren, did her Open University degree while her children were growing up and gained an honours degree in English before going on to obtain a postgraduate certificate in education.

Her teaching career was put on hold after she lost a parent at the end of the 1990s but she returned to the profession when she joined the teaching staff at Churchfields School.

She thinks being a mother and understanding teenagers has helped her in her career.

“It’s good to have that understanding and the students respond to it,” she said.

The Teaching Awards ceremonies will be held during the summer term. To vote log on to www.teachingawards.com/ nominations.