TOP Bromsgrove teacher Alison Marshman has a chance to win a national award in the final year before she retires.
The 59-year-old won the Best Special Needs Teacher 2005 for the West Midlands for her work at Lickey Hills Primary and she now goes through to the national finals in October
"I'm so pleased. It's a great compliment to the school," said Mrs Marshman, from Old Birmingham Road.
"It's a pretty rigorous judging process and I have to thank all my colleagues and teaching assistants and the head Stephen Wallin, who entered me in the competition."
Mrs Marshman, who has two children and one grandchild of her own, qualified in 1968 and has been concentrating on teaching children with speech and language difficulties since 1987.
She plans to work until she retires in December 2006, and then wants to carry on with work she is already doing for a university in Birmingham.
Before that, she has to face the tough judging process again in September and go up against 12 other regional winners for the national title.
"The finals are over a weekend in London and I'm looking forward to going with my husband, John," she said.
"If I win, it would be a marvellous way to finish my time in teaching."
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