A POPULAR Geography teacher has won a prestigious award for her national and international work in education.

Catherine Owen, head of Geography at The King Alfred School an Academy, was awarded the highly prized Outstanding Service Diploma by the Geographical Association (GA) after more than 10 years of service.  

Catherine was praised for being part of the International Special Interest Group (ISIG) for over a decade.

The popular Geography teacher, who is also a nationally published author, was commended for developing ideas and resources to support quality teaching about international isssues and for her work in Kampala, Uganda.  

Working with Seb Witts, she has set up a Kampala branch of the GA and made three visits to provide training to Ugandan teachers.  

As well as working in Uganda Catherine has supported visits to the UK from several East African teachers by hosting them at her home and making sure their visits are a success. 

 “I am very grateful to the Geographical Association for the award and the support they have given me as a subject association for the last 25 years," Catherine said. 

  “I have grown as a geographer and a teacher through working with the GA and this in turn benefits my students at The King Alfred School Academy.”

With the annual GA conference going online this Easter, Catherine was delighted to provide a webinar for teachers across the country which focused on critical thinking and geography fieldwork.  

She said she plans to continue working with her students, her colleagues in East Africa and the Geographical Association to keep geography in schools moving forward in the future.