A secondary school’s long-serving chair of governors has beaten off stiff competition to be crowned one of the county’s most outstanding for the first time ever.

Lin Keen, of Sandringham School in St Albans, was just one of three awarded the accolade of Outstanding Governor of the Year award, as part of a joint venture between the Herts Association of School Governors (HASG) and school company Herts for Learning.

The coveted prize includes £500 for the school in Marshalswick and an individual prize of £50.

Schools across the county were asked to nominate a governor or governors they believed had really made a difference and helped to improve the educational outcomes of children in their school.

Alan Gray, headteacher of Sandringham School, said: “Lin is an outstanding individual who has worked tirelessly for the school over many years. She has created a wonderful team of governors with exceptional skills, who collectively ensure the very highest standards of education for young people at the school.” The aim of the event, which took place at the Herts Development Centre in Stevenage, was to publicly recognise the individual contribution and commitment of governors across the county.

An independent panel of judges from the HASG and Herts for Learning whittled the entries down to a shortlist of 38 governors and the finalists were then drawn up.

Eight finalists, representing schools in South Mimms, Hitchin, Watford, Tring and Ware, were represented with two other winners from Stevenage and Berkhamsted selected.

Paul Rosen, chair of the Hertfordshire School Governors Association, said: “We are delighted to be able to celebrate our governors for the efficient and dedicated work that they do within their schools to support children and young people in receiving the education they deserve.

“We had an overwhelming response from schools across the county to the awards, and whilst we chose three awards this year, we could have chosen 33 or 300 – it still wouldn’t be enough!”