Culcrow teacher Ashleigh winsthe ‘UK Science Teacher of Year’

Ashleigh Longhurst, who teaches at Culcrow Primary School, was honoured “because she is an outstanding teacher of Primary Science.”

Kathy Schofield, college director of PSTT, said: “She is unique because she has only been teaching for three years and has transformed the teaching of science in her school in Aghadowey.

““Ashleigh took the lead for Science and consequently the school have achieved the Primary Science Quality Mark Gold award another outstanding achievement for the whole school and very significant for someone so early in their career. Ashleigh’s teaching is innovative, creative and always inspires the rest of the staff and definitely the children.

“The lesson we shared with Ashleigh and the children was wonderful, Ashleigh had contacted the local police who supplied her with all the equipment used by Forensic science teams. The children were given white coveralls and shoe protectors and then led into the crime scene classroom to find out who had stolen the money and the chocolate the class had been saving for a class treat.

“The children then set off investigating the staff by testing their fingerprints, salvia samples, handwriting and types of pens used by chromatography, they worked independently and found the culprit. This was real world science carried out enthusiastically and knowledgably by P4 children, a fantastic experience for all concerned.”