THREE St Helens schools were honoured at the Educate Awards ceremony on Friday night.

The awards, in their seventh year, are the largest education awards in the North West and saw more than 600 guests gathered for the Educate Awards ceremony held at the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, hosted by broadcaster, Simon ‘Rossie’ Ross.

On the night, 21 awards were handed out to schools in the north west.

One of the evening’s top awards went to Billinge St Aidan’s C of E Primary School, who won the Most Inspirational Primary School Award for its dedicated support towards its pupils’ mental and physical wellbeing.

And this year has been a difficult year for the school, having lost a pupil who was fighting a brain tumour.

Staff and pupils went above and beyond to help the family, and raised money when needed. The school also regularly welcomes therapy dogs which help pupils from all walks of life, as well as an aroma therapist who teaches ways in which the children can relax.

Meanwhile, Queen’s Park Primary School scooped the Eco School Project of the Year Award for its work to improve its school grounds.

Children planted their own saplings on the perimeter of the school field, thanks to 120 tree saplings provided by the Woodland Trust.

With an established Eco Team, the school has planted an extraordinary 2,637 trees in their school grounds and has fostered an ‘Eco Ethos’ throughout the school.

Finally, Rainford High held on to its Outstanding Commitment to Sport in Secondary School Award, which it also won in 2017.

The school has achieved outstanding team and individual success within a wide range of local, regional and national competitions. It has also focused on breaking down traditional gender participation barriers through increasing the number of girls in school football and rugby teams and doubling the number of boys participating in cheerleading and dance clubs.

Kim O’Brien, founder of the Educate Awards, says: “Many congratulations to Billinge St Aidan’s, Rainford High and Queen’s Park. It’s been an exceptional year of entries, so many congratulations to all the winners, runners-up and finalists for 2018.

“We are so proud to host an event which champions the creativity, diversity and dedication of teachers, school support stars, schools and colleges in the Liverpool City Region, Cheshire, Lancashire and Greater Manchester.”

The evening also saw the premiere of the Educate Awards Super Choir Children in Need music video, ‘We are all Stars’, which Queen’s Park took part in.

The recording features the voices of more than 300 students from local schools, with all proceeds from the sales going to the charity.

Associate sponsors include Winstanley College, All About STEM, Liverpool John Moores University, CER, Progress Schools, Liverpool Learning Partnership, School Improvement Liverpool, The Foundry Agency, LSSP, The Bishop of Liverpool, The Rt. Revd. Paul Bayes and David M Robinson Jewellery & Watches.