TOP of the class are child carer Donna Jones and four-year-old Alicia Pitt.

The toddler who attends Creche and Co Ltd's Fairfield's Nursery in Bury entered a national art competition to tell the country how wonderful her teacher is.

Alicia's colourful picture of nursery supervisor Donna won her first place in the under-5 group. The youngster was presented with a certificate, toy and £50 worth of Marks and Spencers vouchers from the Secretary of State for culture, media and sport, Tessa Jowell, and her painting is now on display at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

Donna received £75 worth of Marks and Spencers vouchers.

The competition was organised to mark National Childcare Month and children were invited to draw or paint their childcarers along with a caption saying what they like about them.

Organised by the the national childcare charity Daycare Trust and Nursery World magazine with support from Fisher-Price and Mattell, the competition attracted more than 2000 entries.

Alicia, who has been attending the nursery since she was four months old, said she liked Donna because "she has the same hair as me".

Donna, who has worked at the nursery for seven years, said: "I absolutely love my job. Alicia is bright bubbly and likes to be in charge.

"She is really confident and could run this nursery without us."

She added: "Everyone in the nursery is so excited that Alicia won."

Mrs Jowell said: "This competition is a great opportunity for children to be creative and at the same time to celebrate what's good about childcare and childcarers."