Social and economical barriers are “a harsh reality” for pupils at Forest Gate Community School, London, the award nomination reads.

Before 2016, it continues, there was a low expectation culture and the fact that many students were studying English as an additional language was blamed as the cause of poor student progress in the subject.

A “requires improvement” rating in an Ofsted inspection in 2014 was largely due to those poor results in English.

Fast-forward a mere two years and the school had not only improved but jumped to becoming a top-rated school.

In 2016, Ofsted ranked the school as “outstanding”, and singled out the English team as “high performing” in its report.

By the following year, the team had the best results in the country, with children in bottom sets getting grade 9s.

Commitment, the submission says, is “infectious”: English teachers at the school have volunteered to provide a weekly extra lesson after work for Year 11 students since 2014.

The team recalls beating “incredible odds” to achieve and maintain those results. And with the submission, it celebrates the legacy of a leader who also had incredible odds to beat.

The assistant head and English teacher Shamimara Uddin was diagnosed with cancer and given months to live in 2015. But she continued working and passed away two years later, maintaining that it was the love of her job and her students that kept her going for so long.

Lead judge Angela Browne said: “The quality of entries was phenomenal and a real testament to the amazing work taking place in English teams up and down the country. Huge congratulations to Forest Gate Community School!”