LAST year’s Newcomer of the Year winner was Amanda Mason from St Clement’s CE Primary School.

Mrs Mason was nominated for being “the most caring person you could ever meet”.

Reflecting on the time since her award win, she said: “It was an incredible time and I felt really privileged to be recognised.

“It was something I hadn’t expected so I felt really happy to be nominated.

“I felt very proud when I won and was completely speechless, it was great to have this amount of support from everyone here.

“The last few months have been really positive – it has been a massive boost to my confidence and the motivation to keep going and do the job.”

Mrs Mason began her career in the education field 15 years ago as a volunteer at the school in Henwick Road, Worcester, before progressing from teaching assistant to higher-level teaching assistant.

She officially became a teacher and gained her NQT qualification in March 2018.

Eight years ago, Mrs Mason and her mum created a project

in Africa at Kyeleni Primary School which focuses on global learning.

A classroom has recently been converted into a library, which was the first library introduced to the village in Kenya.

Nominations are now open for the 2020 Worcestershire Education Awards.

There are 13 categories to enter and anyone can nominate their favourite teacher, school or training provider.

This year features a new award category, with Inspirational Mentor of the Year being introduced.

For more information about the award categories and to fill in a nomination form, go to worcesternews.co.uk/awards/worcestershire_education_awards/

Once the judging process is complete, the lucky finalists will be invited to a glamorous

black-tie event at Worcester Arena on June 25, where the winners will receive their

prizes.