A TINY school lined up for closure as part of a £300m shake-up of education has won a top award.

Cassop Primary School, near Durham, was one of 11 from the North-East to be honoured at the Teaching Awards yesterday.

The win was announced a week after it was revealed the school is on a list of 23 in County Durham which are being considered for closure. Cassop is under threat because it has a capacity for 140 children and has 56 spare places, a figure which is expected to rise.

The school, the first in the country to be powered by a wind turbine, received the BT Award for School and Community Involvement.

Headteacher Jim McManners collected the prize from BBC Look North presenter Wendy Gibson at Newcastle's Centre for Life.

The event, now in its fifth year, honours the most inspiring and remarkable headteachers, teachers and teaching assistants for their outstanding work in their school communities.

Other winners this year include Mildred Howell who said she was "in shock" after being named Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School.

Mrs Howell, a maths teacher for seven years at Hurworth Comprehensive, near Darlington, said: It is a great privilege to have this award. I feel it is on behalf of all the people that I work with, because you don't work in isolation and every aspect of the school contributes is so many different ways."

The award for Primary School Teacher of the Year went to Karen Pannett from the tiny Montalbo Primary School, in Barnard Castle, County Durham, which could be merged with a neighbouring school as part of Durham County Council's controversial shake-up plans.

Deputy headteacher Gillian Gallagher, said: "The staff and pupils are absolutely delighted. We're quite a small school and this kind of recognition is marvellous. Karen is very popular with staff, pupils and parents and she truly deserves it, because she's a hardworking teacher."

The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Tony Maxwell, headteacher at St Michael's RC Secondary School, Billingham, Teesside.

Mr Maxwell has been teaching at the school for 37 years and played a significant role in keeping it open when it was threatened with closure in the 1980s.

His work in the community includes a spell as chairman of Billingham Town Football Club.

Eddie Curran, the school's communications officer, said: "We are delighted with the news.

Mr Curran added: "It is something that is well deserved for the part he has played in the development - not only of our school - but within the local community."

Other winners included Steve Harness of Woodham Community College in Newton Aycliffe, who took the Secondary School Leadership Award.

Each of the 11 North-East winners will be invited to attend the national Teaching Awards ceremony, which will take place in October and will be shown on BBC1 in early November.

N-E winners

School and Community Involvement: Jim McManners, Cassop Primary, County Durham; Outstanding New Teacher: Simon Henderson, Teesdale School, Barnard Castle, County Durham; School Leadership in a Secondary School: Steve Harness, Woodham Community Technology College, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham.

Award for Science Teaching: Susanne Miller, Houghton Kepier, Houghton-le-Spring, Wearside; Excellence in Special Needs Teaching: Lesley Etherington, Thornhill School, Sunderland.

Teacher of the Year - Primary: Karen Pannett, Montalbo Primary, Barnard Castle, County Durham. Teacher of the Year - Secondary: Mildred Howell, Hurworth Comprehensive, Darlington. Teaching Assistant: Judith Howes, Hardwick Primary, Stockton; Lifetime Achievement - Secondary: Tony Maxwell, St Michael's RC Secondary, Billingham, Teesside.

Special Commendations

School and Community Involvement: John Downs, Laurence Jackson Secondary, Guisborough, east Cleveland. School Leadership: Jo Frost, Oxclose Primary School, Spennymoor, County Durham; Morita Metcalfe, St Cuthbert's RC Primary, Stockton; Bob Eastwood, Abingdon Primary School, Middlesborough, and Eamonn Farrar, Hurworth Comprehensive, Darlington.

Excellence in Special Needs Teaching: Susan Gardiner, Newlands School FCJ, Middlesborough.

Teacher of the Year in a Primary School: Tammy Andrews, Skelton in Cleveland Junior, Saltburn, east Cleveland. Teacher of the Year in a Secondary School: Jean Robson, Houghton Kepier School, Houghton-le-Spring, Wearside.

Teaching Assistant of the Year: Margaret Denning, Murphy Crescent Special School, Bishop Auckland, County Durham.