INSPIRATIONAL teaching over 28 years has resulted in a prestigious award for the head of geography at Kelly College, Steve Martin.

The teacher was presented with the Ordnance Survey Award by the Royal Geographical Society at a special ceremony in London on Monday, in recognition of excellence in teaching geography in secondary education.

First awarded in 1998 as part of the Royal Geographical Society?s annual honours, the accolade also recognises teachers who have raised the profile of their subject in schools.

Mr Martin, who has taught at Kelly College for most of his career, was chosen as this year?s recipient for his ?superb classroom teaching? and ability to make the subject lively and interesting for all pupils.

He was described as a ?diligent and inspiring teacher? who had achieved amazing ?A? level results and passed on his love of the subject to many generations of pupils, many of whom had gone on to read geography at University.

He had also made a significant contribution outside the school as a highly respected examiner and inspector over recent years.

Mr Martin said it was nice to get the recognition for many years of teaching ? but he was just doing what he loved.

?I very much enjoy the subject because it is very visual and all around you. It also embraces all aspects of the academic spectrum,? said Mr Martin.

Three of Mr Martin?s pupils received the best overall marks in the country in recent OCR exam board results and he said he particularly liked working with Sixth Form students. He added he was never tempted to go into management ? something teachers did.

Head of Kelly College Mark Steed referred to Mr Martin as an ?outstanding and committed schoolmaster? with a commanding academic knowledge of his subject.

?He has the facility to communicate this to young people in a lively and imaginative way and has inspired generations of Kelleians who are indebted to him for fostering in them a genuine love of geography,? he said.

Friend and former colleague John Killingbeck said the award was a big thumbs up for classroom teachers who did not always get the recognition they deserved.

?Steve is a really good teacher who has spent his whole career in the classroom and has achieved wonderful results with his pupils,? he said. ?This award is richly deserved and it is great that it should go to a person who was born and bred in the Westcountry.?

Mr Martin, chairman of the Old Cornwall Society in Launceston where he lives, regularly travels to Morocco with parties of pupils on field trips.

He previously ran the surfing and life saving clubs at Kelly College.