TWO union officials are in line for a national award for supporting teachers when a school hit crisis point.

National Union of Teachers, NUT, representatives Simon Jones and Nadeem Siddiqui have already been handed individual prizes for their work at Darwen Vale High School.

The pair worked with staff, governors and the council after an official dispute was lodged with the school over allegations the then headteacher, Hilary Torpey was not backing up staff with disciplining unruly pupils.

Despite the dispute, the Department for Education placed the school in the top 105 in the country for improved GCSE pass rates over the last four years.

Last month Simon, Blackburn with Darwen divisional secretary and national executive member, was made north west officer of the year while Lancashire president Nadeem was named representative of the year.

And this week at the NUT Annual Conference in Torquay they will find out if their collegues have judged them the best in the country.

Simon and Nadeem both provided support when initial talks broke down at the school and staff balloted for industrial action which resulted in a strike last year.

After the strike, the NUT worked to formulate and negotiate a plan to help the school get back on track.

Mrs Torpey was suspended before quitting in September.

The school is now being run by a new headteacher Fiona Jack.

Simon said: “This nomination came as a complete surprise to me as I didn’t even know it had been submitted. I am very proud to be able to serve members of the NUT.”

Nadeem, who was also awarded for his work to rebuild working relationship with the new management team, said: “It’s only when serious problems like this occur, that people realise how important it is to belong to a strong union like the NUT.”