Education minister Elizabeth Truss hailed a west Norfolk school as an outstanding example when she presented it with an environmental award.

Ms Truss, who is MP for South West Norfolk, visited St Martin at Shouldham Church of England Primary School to celebrate the school achieving the Eco Schools Green Flag award and also achieving an outstanding grade in its last Ofsted inspection.

Ms Truss said: 'This is an outstanding school and one with a fantastic setting.

'Great schools have great headteachers, they are always looking for new things to do and they do this by involving the students.

'This is the first time I've seen a school receive the Green Flag award and clearly they have worked hard.

'They monitor their waste and make sure that lights are switched off if they are not needed.

'I think what we need in Norfolk is to see schools work with each other and share ideas and knowledge.'

To achieve the Green Flag award a school is required to be inspected and must show that they have worked on a number of different areas including sustainability and energy use.

Pupils at St Martin in Shouldham have monitored the amount of waste produced by each class and at lunchtime and award the Eco Cup to the best class each half-term.

Marianne Taylor, Year 5 and 6 class teacher, has helped pupils to develop their Eco-Council and decide on how they would work towards the award.

She said: 'It is something I am quite passionate about. Everybody has got on board and the whole school is involved.

'We go into other schools and tell them about what we are doing.

'We have a fuel free Friday afternoon where we try not to use any energy in school.'

Eco-Council member Harriett Horton, 10, said: 'It gives us lots of opportunities. We organise litter picking and we have set up a recycling bin in which we recycle pens and yoghurt pots.'