FIFTEEN East Lancashire teachers have proved they have what it takes to become headteachers after acting out the role in front of examiners.

The teachers from schools across Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Pendle, Hyndburn, Ribble Valley and Rossendale have taken a step towards the top after all receiving the prestigious National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH).

Education chiefs praised the successful staff for passing the qualification, designed to ensure teachers have the necessary attributes to take the hot seat.

Teachers have training days, they complete training modules online and can visit other schools to practice the skills needed to embark on a first headship.

They also do a project about an aspect of school improvement and leadership based on their school - and are assessed by an independent tutor.

But the East Lancashire participants must also simulate being a headteacher with mock-up scenarios testing anything from dealing with a parent's complain to disciplining a member of staff.

And those taking the qualification said they were delighted their leadership skills passed the stringent tests. They included Jacquie Petriaho, assistant headteacher at Beardwood High School, Blackburn.

The 46-year-old from Hippings Way, Clitheroe, said: "Teachers are doers and I was doing all these things on a daily basis anyway but as you have to collect evidence it makes you question and think about what you are doing and why you are doing it.

Mrs Petriaho overhauled the Preston New Road school's Key stage 3 and 4 programme and introduced vocational GCSE subjects such as retail as a project during her qualification.

And she now has her eyes on a headship. The mother-of-three said: "I want to see my work through here but I would like to become a headteacher within the next 12 months. This qualification gives you the self belief that you can do it."

Centre manager for NPQH North West, Keith Whitby, said, "A good headteacher makes all the difference to a child's education."

l The other graduates were: Bob Gordon, Great Harwood St Bartholomew's Parish CE Primary School;Tracy Heys, Great Harwood St John's CE Primary School; Judith Metcalfe, St Mary's RC Primary School, Osbaldeston; Farzana Qureshi, St Matthew's CE Primary School, Blackburn; Alex Walker, Newfield School, Blackburn; Rob Kirk and Lynn Platt, Haslingden High School; Paul Stanley, Haslingden Broadway Primary School; Gina Wootton, Leabrooks School, Rawtenstall; Ivan Catlow, The Hollins Technology College, Accrington; Lorraine Gray, St Peter's CE Primary School, Accrington; Patricia Parkins, Burnley Walshaw High School and Julie Miller and John Tarbox, Colne Primet High School, Colne.