Teacher's Dee-light at scoopingtop title thanks to her pupils

Mrs Dee McCulloch, 50, who has been nominated previously, has won the eagerly-contested Scarborough News title in her last year at Cayton Community Primary School.

She landed the title after beating more than 30 classroom heroes to the honour.

Glasgow-born Mrs McCulloch, who has relocated 25 times as her father’s civil servant job moved the family around the country, joined the 194-pupil school 16 years ago.

She said: “I am blown away by this award. I think it is for every teacher at Cayton.”

She intends to become a part-time teacher in Scarborough from next year. She trained at the former North Riding college, Filey Road, in the same group as Cayton’s headteacher Mr John.

She has three grown-up children of her own.

The village school opened in 1972 and has eight teachers and 12 teaching assistants

Pupils aged 10 to 11 years in of Year Six, said in their nomination: “She has taken us surfing, to Flamingo Land, to the Crucial Crew exercise event, and helped us to decide on our end-of-year party.

“She has welcomed new people kindly, let us go to Bewerley Park education centre, taken us swimming, and helped with our leavers’ play.”

They added: “Some just love her for being our teacher.

“We all think that she should win because she has supported us through the SATs tests and made them fun ... she has taken us through tough times.”

Pupil Frank Denham added: “Whenever I have trouble with anything, she looks out for me all the time. She’s the best ever teacher in the world.”

She was presented with the winner’s framed certificate by the editor Ed Asquith.

There were two runners-up this year:

Miss Kitching, of Gladstone Road School, among whose nominators was Isabelle White, eight, who said that however bad things get “she is always there for me the next day”.

And Mr Cooper, of Brompton & Sawdon. Nominator Jemima Wallace, nine, said he created Hogwarts parchments and NASA space crew letters, gives up Fridays to run an after-school sports club, runs a SATs booster club, organised an away week and playground buddy system.