A GIFTED teacher has made it through to the regional final of The Teaching Awards competition.

Salome Sanmartin, 27, a languages teacher at Sir William Ramsay School in Hazlemere, is one of the four finalists in the south of England outstanding new teacher category.

The national competition received a record amount of entries this year, more than 5,000 entries from schools across the UK. The national final takes place in October and will be televised on BBC2.

Miss Sanmartin teaches Spanish and French and has been at the school, in Rose Avenue, just under a year.

She has only been teaching two years but in that time she has won much respect and admiration from her pupils and colleagues alike.

Miss Sanmartin, who lives in Bray, Maidenhead, said: "I was shocked at being nominated at first but it's quite exciting and I'm surprised to get this far."

After being nominated by a colleague she impressed judges sufficiently to make a short list of teachers in the south of England.

Judges came into the classroom and observed her lesson for three hours last week and gave her an interview.

Miss Sanmartin said: "It was nerve-wracking but I enjoyed it once I got going.

"The teachers and kids were very supportive."

She believes that her commitment has helped her get this far.

She said: "I think it's because I'm very hard working, very organised and it don't mind doing anything.

"The way I get on with the kids is a big reason. I think I have an excellent relationship with them."

Jenny Thorburn, head of modern foreign languages, said: "She's bloody marvellous!

"With the way she is with the kids and her level of commitment to the department it's easy to forget she's been teaching a short amount of time.

"She's got lots of interesting ways of teaching the kids and brings new ideas into the school.

"I think she is absolutely fantastic and deserves to win."