Tributes to teacher who refused to give up work after terminal cancer diagnosis as department is rated best in country

Tributes were today paid to an "inspirational" teacher who refused to give up her job despite being diagnosed with terminal cancer,  as her English department was voted the best in the country.

Forest Gate Community School in Newham serves one of the most deprived communities in London and students speak 50 different languages, with 70 per cent of pupils having English as an additional language.

Earlier this month the school won the prestigious TES award for best English department in the country and principal Thahmina Begum says it was all down to former head of department Shamimara Uddin.

Ms Uddin was hired by the school in 2013 when it was recording GCSEs below the national average. In four years she turned the English department around by putting on extra classes after school and at weekends.

In 2015, aged 37, Ms Uddin was diagnosed with incurable stomach cancer and given just weeks to live by doctors.

But she continued working saying at the time "teaching is my world".

In August 2017 she lost her life to the disease, the same year her department was ranked the best in the country for GCSE results.

The school has now been in the top five in England for results four years in a row.

Ms Begum, 33, said: “There have been many inspirational teachers who have helped to transform this department in the last six years but it all starts with Sham Uddin.

“Before she arrived the student progress and expectation was at rock bottom and explained away because we had so many students who had English as a second language.

“What Sham brought to this department and what survives to this day is work ethic, going the extra mile and belief in our students, that there are no barriers to what can be achieved.”

“We are a department which celebrates diversity where success is achieved regardless of background, led by our inspirational leader Sham who continues to inspire us all.

“The majority of our students are either English as an additional language or from deprived background yet we have the best English department in the country.“

"Make of that what you will but the results speak for themselves. We have come a long way as a school, community and as an English department from being written off because of their postcode."