Tears of joy were shed by a maths teacher after being declared Kent’s top secondary school teacher during an awards ceremony.

Aimee Banks has taught at Chatham Grammar School for Boys for three years and head of Maths Faculty for a year - a great achievement in itself.

But it is her efforts to continuously inspire her pupils and go the extra mile which made her stand out from the other nominations put forward for this year’s Kent Teacher of the Year Awards.

Aimee's efforts also led to her being declared the area winner in the Medway Secondary School Teacher Category.

Twice a week she gives up her lunch hour to hold maths clinics, once a week she teaches pupils maths an hour before school starts and on top of all that she also supervises peer mentoring sessions.

As overall winner a framed certificate and a cheque for £200 was presented to Aimee during an awards ceremony held at Priesfield Stadium, Gillingham, on Wednesday night .

Mrs Banks, 30, a former pupil of Fort Pitt Grammar School, Chatham, said:“I’m absolutely flabbergasted to have won.

“Maths is something that a lot of people think it difficult and I try to dispel that myth.

“I struggled with maths at school but it was a teacher who changed that for me and I want to do the same for my pupils.”