A BRAVE soldier, a determined cancer-victim, a young school boy and a former science teacher are all being remembered today.

A BRAVE soldier, a determined cancer-victim, a young school boy and a former science teacher are all being remembered today.

The four special people were honoured in an awards ceremony at Hadleigh High School, where they all worked or studied in the past.

Former students Sharron Elliott, Brendan Oakes, and Andrew Hambling, as well as former teacher Chris Warwick, are fondly remembered at the school and now four hardworking pupils have been rewarded with trophies dedicated to each of them.

It was the first time the Sharron Elliott Memorial Award for determination in physical education was presented in honour of staff sergeant Elliott, who died while fighting in Iraq in November.

That award went to year 11 pupil Curtis Porter who been chosen as a member of the National Kickboxing Team after winning a silver medal at the International Kickboxing Association Championship.

And it was the second time the Brendan Oakes shield for determination was presented in memory of the young cancer victim. This year the award was presented to student Natalie Freeman.

Brendan's dad, Mark, said: “It's nice that we recognise other children who are similar to Brendan in his attitude and determination.

“It's about children in year 11 who weren't expected to do so well in life but have shown others that was not the case.

“It's kept Brendan's memory alive and in the school.”

Cathy Tooze, headteacher at the school, said: “It's great to value past pupils as well as present pupils and recognise the contribution they made. And it's great to think their memories survive.

“I know that people who were close to them are pleased that we still remember them.

“The awards are about putting in effort rather than achievement. We try to celebrate all types of people.

“The children who win are all incredibly proud of themselves and they like to know they also won't be forgotten once they leave the school.”

Other winners, both from year 11, were Alison Partridge who won the Andrew Hambling award for PE and Rob Marsland who won the Chris Warwick Memorial Cup.

Are you presenting an award in memory of someone special? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.

The former Hadleigh High School students and teacher honoured

Sharron Elliott lived in Hadleigh until 1998. She joined the army when she was 18 and served with the Intelligence Corps around the globe.

She died on Remembrance Sunday when a bomb exploded near the boat she was in with three colleagues in the Shatt Al-Arab waterway.

She had been only been in Iraq for one week when she became the second British servicewoman to die in the conflict.

Brendan Oakes battled with lung cancer for three-and-a-half-years but made sure he lived as normal a life as possible until his death at the age of 15 in May 2005.

Before his death the teenager from Hadleigh told his family that he wanted to leave a positive legacy so his parents set up a memorial fund to help other children with terminal illnesses.

Andrew Hambling died because of a serious illness in the late 1980s. Since his death his father has presented an award in memory of his son every year.

Chris Warwick was science teacher at the school in the late 1980s.

After his death his parents donated two cups, one for key stage three science and one for key stage four science, in his memory.