The bright lights will be on Newton Abbot teacher Jo Paylor-Sykes next week when she heads off to the London Palladium to find out if she has won the prestigious Primary School Teacher of the Year award.

Mrs Paylor-Sykes took the regional title in June and with it £3,000 worth of equipment for her school, All Saints (Marsh) C of E Primary in Newton Abbot, plus a £500 bursary to help fund her own future studies.

Recognised for her outstanding abilities, Mrs Paylor-Sykes is now acting as an early years advisor, helping schools in the area with their teaching programmes for three-five year olds.

On the teaching awards web site at http://www.teachingawards.com">www.teachingawards.com – where supporters are encouraged to leave messages for the candidates – one comment from All Saints pupil Reece Scott simply says: 'You are a star.'

Another from Bethany Lawrence says: 'I think you are a fantastic teacher.'

All Saints headteacher Mrs Batcock also asked to send her best wishes through the Mid-Devon Advertiser series and added that although the young teacher had only been with the school for a year she had made a great impression.

No doubt she will make an even greater impression if she wins the national titles as the school will be awarded a further £25,000 to spend on ICT equipment and professional development courses.

Lord Puttnam, chairman of the Teaching Awards Trust said: 'We all live in an economy in which knowledge and skills are at an ever greater premium.

'This also means that our teachers are at an ever greater premium.

'It's our teachers who help deliver that knowledge and those skills, day-in and day-out, week after week.

'Yet too often we fail to recognise the contribution made by the teaching profession to our prosperity and well-being.

'The awards were set up to publicly acknowledge and celebrate the crucial role that teachers play in the lives of our children and our future as a nation.'

The fifth Teaching Awards National Ceremony is to be hosted by television presenter Eamonn Holmes and will be attended by celebrities from the world of sport and entertainment such as Zoe Wannamaker, Sir Booby Charlton and Damion Lewis.

More popularly known as the Platos, all those with a chance of winning an award have been nominated by their school or the public.