Rookie teacher Dale Goodwin is up for a major award - in only his second year in the classroom.

The 24-year-old has impressed his bosses at Thorn Park School for the Deaf since joining in January 2001 and has been shortlisted for the northern round of the National Teaching Awards.

In his first job as a newly-qualified teacher he is responsible for science and technology teaching, and coaches the school football team.

He has also thrown himself into British Sign Language classes and has reached the end of Stage 2 in just 18 months.

"Dale is an all-rounder," said Dave Muir, the head teacher at Thorn Park.

"He has contributed a lot to the school in terms of developing the science and technology areas and in addition he has had to learn sign language.

"He has entered the Stage 2 exam after 18 months, which is very good. He also coaches the football team.

"He's only in his second year of teaching, but has had to cope with learning sign language as well as developing two areas of the curriculum. We are delighted for him.

"As a special school we're sometimes seen as a bit low status compared with mainstream schools, but this shows the good teaching we have here."

Mr Goodwin, whose unusual hobby is keeping African frogs, studied at Leeds University and after a year out returned to gain the PGCE qualification.

"I just fell into working in a special school, through being here on supply," he said. "A day became a week, and I'm still here. I'm finding it really rewarding, seeing the children's progress - even just small things, seeing it click with the kids."

Of learning sign language, he said: "I picked it up easily at first because I was using it every day and it was sink or swim. It's now getting a lot more difficult because I'm getting more in-depth and have moved on to the grammatical side of it."

He is sharing his love of amphibians with his pupils by converting a fishtank into a pond with tadpoles.

In the National Teaching Awards he will be competing against Rachel Hayes, of Hellifield Community Primary near Skipton, who is also up for the Outstanding New Teacher category.

Other nominees from our area are: Sara Brigg (Primary Teacher of the Year), from Castlefields Infant School, Brighouse; and Jayne Davidson (Teaching Assistant of the Year) and Brettle Roberts (Award for Science Year), who both work at Threshfield Primary near Skipton.

The northern awards will be given out at a ceremony in Sheffield on June 21. The winners of the regional heat will go through to the national final in London.