A MAJOR national award and international TV and media attention have this week put the focus firmly on a Tavistock teacher described as 'simply outstanding' by his peers.

Crispin Chambers, the college's inspirational head of Japanese, was presented with a teaching 'Oscar' at a star-studded ceremony in London's Theatre Royal on Sunday, when he was named secondary school teacher of the year.

Mr Chambers, 50, triumphed over stiff competition to take the prestigious title, which was finally decided after a detailed judging process throughout the summer.

Mr Chambers, who arrived back in school on Tuesday to a huge welcome from fellow staff and students, said it was a 'great personal honour' to have achieved the accolade.

'I never even expected to be nominated, let alone get to the regional finals, and to get to an awards ceremony like that, and to have all the other finalists congratulating you, was incredible,' said Mr Chambers.

'The BBC filmed me at the Japanese embassy — the ambassador had given permission for the filming which takes a lot of co-ordination, so I had an inkling I had done pretty well, but it was still amazing to accept the award.'

One hundred supporters travelled by coach to London to attend the ceremony — made up of students, parents, local organisations and families who had been involved in the regular exchange visits between Tavistock and Japan.

'We had the largest amount of supporters there, no question — and definitely the noisiest!' said Mr Chambers.

'Tavistock is really on the map nationally now and that needs to be shared and promoted. Okay, I won the award but it reflects well on the whole college. We have so much to be proud of here and to have national judges talking so positively about Tavistock College was great.'

Mr Chambers is in his 18th year at Tavistock College. The high academic results his students achieve, and the international links he has forged during this time, he believes, were key to him winning the award — and making Tavistock College one of the top schools in the country for teaching the Japanese language.

'This award reflects on the whole of the Tavistock community,' he said. 'During the last 12 years we have had the most tremendous receptions in the town hall. The Japanese make power points of these and they are shown in Japanese schools. We have been on Japanese TV and millions of people see it and know about Tavistock.

'The fact I've won this award is huge in Japan. They pour money into education, they regard their young people as their most important resource.

'The Japanese said I would never get teaching the language to work in the UK, even in private schools. I said I could do it, if they supported me through the exchange trips.

'When we go to Japan we get inside the Japanese culture. All our students stay with families, not in hotels. It's people to people contact. It's not just about the school, it's about the community, and I wouldn't have won this award without the impact our exchanges have on our communities. Obviously language is the focus, but it's also about goodwill and a genuine desire to share each other's lives and lifestyles.

'The Japanese love it, because the day to day similarities are there — we tend to emphasise the cultural differences but all I am trying to do is give people the confidence to embrace the Japanese culture, which I think is a really positive, enriching experience.

'I just want to share the Japanese language and way of life and I am very grateful to the Tavistock community for creating the vehicle to do this.'

'When I lived and worked in Japan I was shown so much kindness in schools and in the community, I thought if I ever had the chance to give something back through education, I would do it.

Helen Salmon, Tavistock College's principal said: 'We are all obviously thrilled he has won, and it's tremendous recognition for the fact he is a simply outstanding teacher. It's well deserved and we are all very proud of him.

'When I nominated him all those months ago I never dreamed it would lead to all this — we obviously hoped he would win but he was up against really, really stiff competition and to have achieved this is just fantastic.'

Mrs Salmon said the award also provided a huge boost to Tavistock College as a whole.

'I think it shows we could be a centre of excellence. Crispin is an outstanding teacher, but he is not the only one here — we have a whole range of people across the board, in technology, humanities, languages, and I hope winning this award will inspire other teachers to achieve what he has done.

'I also think it's great to put Tavistock on the map, for having a truly global outlook.'

Mrs Salmon said she would like to pay tribute to the Tavistock College Trust, which supports the annual exchange trips and also helped finance the supporters' coach to London at the weekend.

l The awards ceremony will be shown on BBC 2 on Sunday at 5.30pm in Britain's Classroom Heroes.