A WARRINGTON high school has been nominated for a national award thanks to its excellent levels of student care and support.

Cardinal Newman Catholic High School is one of five finalists in the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education (NAPCE), with its pastoral support team invited to attend a virtual ceremony next week.

The awards are the first UK-wide scheme to recognise outstanding achievements across pastoral care in educational settings, sharing good practice and raising awareness of it can make a real difference to the educational experiences of young people.

Head teacher, Jo Langstaff, said: "We are delighted and incredibly proud of our pastoral support team.

"We are extremely fortunate to have a team of such committed professionals who make a difference to the lives of our students on a daily basis.

"They support them with all the challenges that our young people face and help them to become the resilient and determined young people who make up our school community."

Phil Jones, chair of NAPCE and a member of the independent judging panel added: "We received so many brilliant entries for the first National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education and I want to thank everyone who took part.

"The awards have become established very quickly and we hope to be able to offer it for many years to come.

"Standards of entry were extremely high which underlines the achievement you have made in making the finals."

The finals were originally planned to take place in London, but will now be viewed virtually.

The pastoral support team, including Julie Humphries, Katy Dolphin, Amy Charlton, Louise James, Leanne Ward and John Darbyshire will join the ceremony by video link from the school’s assembly hall.

Assistant head teacher at Cardinal Newman, Beckie Finn, said: "Although the school hall isn’t quite the same as a trip to London, we will do everything we can to make it a memorable evening for the team.

"Although it would be lovely to win, we’re just so pleased for the team that they’ve made the finals.

"They do fantastic work and we’re really thrilled they have been recognised."