A school has been presented with a special award, after its teaching assistants were described as a “shining example to the whole country”.

Edgware-based Camrose Primary School was given the national Optimus Education BPTA Award for Excellence in teaching assistants for its day-to-day hard work.

At a ceremony attended by Cllr Nitin Parekh, pupils at the school paid tribute to the dedication they receive from their inspirational TAs.

Camrose head teacher Sharon Crick said: “I am so proud of our wonderful teaching assistants, who absolutely deserve this accolade for the exceptional support they provide to the learning, achievement and pastoral care of pupils. 

“This award reflects the commitment we, as a school have, in ensuring all members of the Camrose team are skilled and effective in their roles.

“We are particularly proud to be the first school in the country to receive this award and the children were delighted too.”

Optimus Education, which delivers and accredits the award, has been providing professional development support and school improvement services for 20 years to schools, academies and other educational institutions. 

Its Best Practice with Teaching Assistants Award recognises and celebrates the valuable and increasingly complex role of teaching assistants in pupil achievement.

Optimus director of education Andrew Thraves said: “During my visit, I was very struck with the thoughtful approach the school was taking to helping TAs be as effective as possible.

“Particular skills have been identified by the school and used to provide specialist support, and there are classroom observations so TAs can demonstrate their good practice and have it fine-tuned to make it even better.

“It was very clear to me that Camrose Primary took a real team approach to working with its TAs, to the benefit of all of its pupils. Congratulations once again.”