A teacher who has steered students through Mullion School for a quarter of a century is in the final of the Teaching Awards – the Oscars of the teaching profession.

Amanda Hipkiss has won the South West region award for Lifetime Achievement Teacher of the Year and goes through to the national final.

The news comes as Mrs Hipkiss announces her retirement from the school, at the end of the academic year.

She is the special educational needs co-ordinator at Mullion School and in the last 25 years there has inspired pupils to achieve national success in athletics and motivated colleagues to teach in a way that minimises the disadvantages that can challenge the school’s most fragile pupils.

Described as “a leading figure in her field” by the school, Mrs Hipkiss has also been a staff governor, an Advanced Skills teacher and has trained other teachers at a local, regional and national level.

As a result of her work, Mullion School was the first secondary school in Cornwall to achieve the Dyslexia Friendly School title.

Headteacher Mike Sandford, who nominated Mrs Hipkiss for the award, said: “Amanda is a very special teacher, who has been a leading figure in her field for a very long time. To stay at the top of your game in an education world that is constantly changing is an amazing achievement.

“Regrettably, she has announced that she is going to retire at the end of this academic year. In recognition of her years of service, achievement and success, I believed she would be a very worthy winner of the Ted Wragg Award for Lifetime Achievement.

“In March, we had two national judges come in and meet a selection of pupils, parents, colleagues and governors and I am delighted that they have agreed that the quality of the work that Amanda does on a day to day basis is outstanding.”

Since 2001 Mrs Hipkiss has been a subscriber to the SENCO (Special Educational Needs Co-ordinator) Forum and joined the national advisory group in June 2008. In that role she lobbied for the forum to continue after the closure of British Educational Communications and Technology Agency and helped to ensure a smooth transfer to the Department for Education. Currently, she is on the rota of volunteer stewards.

The Teaching Awards have been in existence for the last 12 years and this year saw the largest entry ever, with over 24,500 teachers being nominated by their pupils, colleagues, governors or parents for one of ten awards, in seven regions around the country. The national finals take place in October.