A CATON teacher has been voted the North-West' s best at teaching science to primary school children.

Catherine Newstead, of Caton St Paul's Cof E Primary School, collected the award at the BT North-West Teaching Awards in Liverpool last week.

And Catherine says that making science fun has been the key to her success.

She runs a weekly science club which about 20 children attend, and has helped three pupils to the prestigious British Association of Young Scientists' gold award.

The BAYS award involves 30 hours of personal research work for the children, examined by independent assessors.

"I was nominated by the head-teacher, Carole O'Hare," explains Catherine: "I didn't know anything about it! They chose four finalists, who were visited by two independent assessors who came and talked to staff and parents.

"I think the science club was one of the reasons that I won.

We have been running it for the last five or six years and it allows us to introduce complex ideas in a fun way."

Catherine also gives regular talks to parents, explaining what their children are learning and how they might be able to assist in that.

The judges said that, in the lesson they watched, the pupils were exceptionally responsive, eager to learn, and kept to the task.She will now go forward to the national competition, which will be awarded at a televised ceremony on October 27.

Catherine's award also has benefits for the school, which receives a £ 2,000 cash grant and a package of £1,000 worth of the latest ICT equipment.

Ripley St Thomas secondary school teacher Andy Owen was commended in the BT award for teacher of the year in a secondary school.