A GRATEFUL mum has nominated a Barnsley teacher for a Proud of Barnsley award for going above and beyond to give his pupils opportunities they would never otherwise have.

Brent Carlin is co-ordinator of design and technology at Trinity Academy St Edward’s and his dedication to providing exciting activities saw youngsters from the school showing off their racing skills earlier this year at a weekend Soapbox Derby.

Two teams from the school competed at the annual Humber Bridge Soapbox Derby in June with

the teams, made up of 18 pupils aged 13 to 15, constructing two soapbox cars, based on the Batmobile from Batman and the Ecto-1 from Ghostbusters.

Those driving the Batmobile soapbox were able to make the final of the competition, as well as being the second fastest at the event as a whole.

They also received commendation as the fastest youth team at the competition.

Mum Kelsie Davies said: “The time and dedication he shows the pupils is exceptional giving up his Fridays after school to build soapbox racing cars, inspiring the children and entering the Hull Soapbox Derby.

” It takes a special teacher to get kids to stay behind on a Friday after school and he is teaching valuable skills and team work.

“He’s a very special teacher, going above and beyond giving the pupils valuable experiences.”

Brent said at the time of the event:: “We were overjoyed. On the day, seeing the pupils’ teamwork, whether that be as runners, pushing the soapbox at the start, or driving them, it was great to see.

“It takes a lot of guts to drive one of those cars as well, they go about 30mph, which in a normal car doesn’t seem very fast, but in a homemade soapbox feels a lot quicker.

“It was also nice to see so many parents there as well, these events take up a lot of time for staff so to see so much recognition is great.”

Trinity Academy St Edwards’ Principal Mark Allen said: “We run clubs across the school focusing on many different things from Dungeons and Dragons to sewing and Brent gives up a lot of time after school to run some of these.

“He gives up every Friday of his own time to work with the children, coming in at weekends and he gave up his Saturday to attend the event.

“It took a lot of work, we set up fundraising with lots of cakes baked to fund the project and, despite having to run his department and plan lessons as well as teaching, Brent really did go way above and beyond.

“I have an incredible team here, I’m really lucky to have a superb staff and Brent is a shining example of that.”