A WIRRAL school has been crowned a winner in the International Award category of the TES School Awards 2019.

Based on Bidston Village Road, the Observatory School was crowned victorious for the support they give their 72 pupils who have social, emotional and mental health needs by encouraging them to work with youngsters from different countries.

The team were handed their award by comedian Harry Hill at a gala awards evening at Grosvenor House Hotel, London on Friday, June 21.

After completing projects through the eTwinning network with more than 21 countries, the judges were impressed by the school's exchange trip to Finland for five pupils with ADHD and autistic spectrum conditions.

Judges described the school as “a shining example of how education can open up and widen pupils’ perceptions of the world.”

Deputy head Sarah Gower said: “I really didn’t think we’d win! A lot of hard work and dedication has gone into this.”

Running for more than 10 years, the awards recognise the 'outstanding' individuals and institutions in education and all entries were judged by some of the UK's top education experts.

Tes Editor Ann Mroz said: “We had a record number of entries this year and the standard was incredibly high so all our winners should be extremely proud of their achievement.

"The quality of entries was superb, and as always, our illustrious panel of judges deliberated long and hard to reach its final selections.

“We’ve had the privilege of hearing about so many creative and inspiring initiatives that are improving outcomes and life chances of young people.

"The spirit of great teaching really was at the heart of each and every entry and it’s been wonderful to see such amazing ideas and excellent practice emerging from our schools, especially considering the difficult circumstances that many schools operate under."