Zafirakou was recognised for her work at Alperton Community School, an inner-city school in Brent, London, where more than a third of children live in poverty and where pupils come from a variety of backgrounds. Some 140 languages are spoken in the borough.

In an effort to build ties with pupils, Zafirakou learned basic phrases in languages such as Hindi, Tamil and Gujarati, and visited family homes.

“By getting pupils to open up about their home lives, I discovered that many of my students come from crowded homes where multiple families share a single property,” she said.

“It's often so crowded and noisy I've had students tell me they have to do their homework in the bathroom, just to grab a few moments alone so they can concentrate.”

In response to this, Zafirakou organised extra lessons during the day and the weekend, including giving pupils a quiet place to work.

She also redesigned the curriculum with fellow teachers to make it more relevant to pupils, and launched girls-only sports clubs for those from conservative communities.

Sunny Varkey, founder of the Varkey Foundation which runs the competition, said he hoped Zafirakou’s story would inspire those who wanted to enter the teaching profession.

The 10 finalists for the annual prize were drawn from more than 30,000 nominations in 173 countries, and hailed from countries including Colombia, Norway, the Phillippines and South Africa.

Zafirakou will receive $1m and be asked to serve as a global ambassador for the Varkey Foundation. She will be required to remain working as a teacher for at least five years and will be paid the prize money in instalments. - PA