A surprise tea party was laid on for a Dealteacher who has earned accolade for her commitment to changing the lives of the children she works with.

Kirsty Gaythwaite received her silver award in the Outstanding New Teacher of the Year category of the Pearson National Teaching Awards.

Selected from thousands of nominations, the Goodwin Academy teacher is one of just 76 silver award winners across the country.

She is now in with a chance of winning just 14 gold awards later in the year, in a programme which will be broadcast on the BBC.

Ms Gaythwaite initially joined the school as a learning support assistant to help vulnerable pupils, but was quickly identified as having a