A Bolton teaching assistant's dedicated service has been recognised with a national award. Nicola Lawrence, who works at Kearsley West Primary School, Kearsley, received the Primary Teaching Assistant of the Year Award, and was presented with a glass trophy, certificate and voucher at a ceremony in the school. The awards are part of National Teaching Assistants’ Day, which was held last week in celebration of the work of Teaching Assistants (TAs) in primary, secondary and special schools across the country.
The event is organised by education recruitment agency Teaching Personnel and has run annually since 2012. Nicola was nominated for the award by colleagues, who described her as a “ real-life superwoman”. They said: “Nicola believes in our children.
"Our school is in a deprived area of Bolton with 93 per cent of our children coming from the most deprived areas. Nicola runs the PTA to ensure that we make enough money to provide the children with iPads. She supports the Year 1 class and works with a number of other children to boost their phonics.
“She gives up hours of her own time to lead our running club and organises Santa visits for all children at school. It would be easy for some of our children to feel as though they miss out but Nicola doesn’t let that happen. “She is an amazing colleague, friend and champion for our children and their families.
” Teaching Personnel received hundreds of nominations from schools across the country for seven awards cate.