Hannah Tombling’s ethos of “making the world a better place, one step at a time” is an inspiration for pupils, and she nurtures even the youngest children Diamond Wood Community Academy to appreciate the natural world around them.

Tombling runs an after-school Green Club. She organises litter picks around school with pupils and has installed a TerraCycle bin for hard-to-recycle waste.

She has also promoted “wild” areas to encourage the growth of wildflowers and encourage pollinators. Pupils in her Green Club have created signs for display around school that say, “Pardon the weeds, we are feeding the bees!” Pupils learn from the signs that they should refrain from picking flowers and leave them for animal visitors.

Hannah also ensures that pupils take an active role in growing their own produce and, during the summer term, some of the items grown are used by the school kitchen for lunches. During the first lockdown, Tombling ensured that the children would not miss out on this valuable experience by delivering a variety of growing equipment to families.

To help the children develop a greater understanding and respect for their community environment, she has taken groups of children to help plant hundreds of bulbs along the local greenway.

Judge Steve Brace said: “Hannah Tombling is a deserving winner for her outstanding environmental work. 

“From school lunches using the pupils’ produce to delivering ‘lockdown growing packs’ to their families, from children planting hundreds of bulbs to celebrating Eid with dips made with school-grown mint, Hannah’s work impacts positively on Diamond Wood’s pupils, their parents and the wider community.”