SCHOOL staff from caretakers to headteachers in 450 schools across the North-East are to get a cash bonus for helping pupils improve results.

This year's School Achievement Awards - worth £5,700 for a primary school and £25,700 for a secondary - are being awarded throughout the region.

They will go to schools where pupil performance was substantially better than in 1999, schools where performance last year was better than most schools in similar circumstances, and schools which improved through special measures in the past year.

School Standards Minister David Miliband said: "Every person working in a school has their part to play in raising standards, whether they are a classroom assistant or a teacher, a bursar or a dinner lady."