Dedicated teacher awarded MBE after being nominated by a pupil

A young student's royal recommendation has taken a teacher from the classroom to the Queen's front door.

Alison Borgese, assistant headteacher at All Saints CE Junior School, received an MBE after Joseph Loras told his mum that his teacher deserves an award.

Joseph and his mum Francesca then began the application process, which led to Alison accepting the honour from the Queen at Windsor Castle on Friday last week.

"I was so nervous," she said.

"When I went up, the Queen asked me what I did and I told her I was a teacher from Maidenhead. She laughed and said 'jolly good, you haven't had far to come then’.

"It's so special that the nomination came from a pupil, as those are the ones that really matter."

The teacher, 59, has taught at All Saints for 10 years and the application for her MBE was backed by a number of other people, including staff from previous schools.

All Saints held a tea party to celebrate the teacher's award on Monday last week, with pupils re-enacting the ceremony.