A TOP maths teacher who saw her whole class achieve straight A grades has won a national award for her work.

Ania Kolendo is still pinching herself after her GCSE maths class got 22 A*s and seven A grades last year.

The results were the best Manningtree High School had ever seen and did not gone unnoticed by parents, students and fellow teachers who nominated Miss Kolendo for the Pearson Teacher of the Year Award in a Secondary School.

Miss Kolendo, who has been teaching at Manningtree High School for six years, was awarded with the title in a special assembly on Wednesday.

She was presented with the award by writer and broadcaster Cole Moreton who was the celebrity guest for the awards assembly.

Miss Kolendo said: “Nearly a year ago my class went down in the school’s history for their fantastic results.

“I don’t think there have ever been results like that in the whole of Essex.

“It was a fabulous experience to teach that class for two years and see them achieve their As and A*s.”

When she found out the results for her whizz kids last August she said she could not believe it.

She added: “I had to check the paper work as I thought that it was an impossible result.”

Miss Kolendo, who has been teaching for 16 years, did a masters degree in maths in Warsaw, Poland, before going straight into teaching.

She said the combination of hard work ethics, parents’ encouragement and structured teaching helped her students get through their GCSEs.

She added: “I have to say I was very strict with them and had very high expectations, but I also really believed in them and praised them.”

The GCSE results for this year will be announced next month with a different grading system.

Exams will be graded between one and nine - with nine being the equivalent of an A*.

She said: “This year grades have changed, and so has the syllabus.

“I do want good results but we don’t know what to expect this year as it will be a new experience for us all.”