Ms Mackenzie (pictured at the awards ceremony) won the title of Inspirational Teacher of the Year in a Primary School at the Scottish Education Awards in June and was put forward to represent Scotland in the primary category of the national awards. This is the first year that Scottish winners have taken part.
Ms Mackenzie has been a nursery teacher in rural Scotland for 35 years and has worked at Park Primary School in Invergordon since 1992.
She won the Scottish award for her lasting dedication and her enthusiasm for developing new initiatives at the school. One of these included opening the school doors 15 minutes early every Friday so parents could share their children's achievements and hear about their activities.
She also pioneered a 'graduation folder' scheme giving every child a pictorial record of their time at nursery.
Parents at Park Primary described Ms Mackenzie as 'passionate', 'empowering' and 'empathetic'. One of her colleagues said, 'There will never be enough "thank yous" for her; she is a marvellous teacher and wonderful with all the children.'
More than 140 primary and secondary teachers, head teachers, special needs teachers and teaching assistants reached the national finals. The Award for Teacher of the Year in a Primary School was won by Trevelyan May from Sholing Junior School in Southampton. Other awards included the Award for Healthy Schools, which went to Stoughton Infant School in Guildford, Surrey.
A full list of winners is at www.teachingawards.com, where nominations can be made for the 2006 awards.