A HEAD teacher who has more than doubled the size of a struggling rural primary school has retired.

Pam Warren, 59, who has headed Crosthwaite primary for eight years, was appointed by gover-nors to boost numbers in 2003 – and said she was delighted to be leaving with the school ‘thriving and forward-looking’.

The mum of one said: “When I came to the school I was charged with getting numbers up. We were down to around 20 and the school was close to closing. The governors and myself decided the only way to survive was to open a nursery.”

A publicity campaign followed and slowly local families started to sign their youngsters up to the nursery and then primary – and now there are 57 children on the school roll.

Her eight year tenure has also seen a dramatic improvement in the school’s Ofsted record.

“The school had a very low profile and was found to have serious weak-nesses in 2002 but it was judged satisfactory in 2004 and then three years later was graded as good with outstanding feat-ures,” said Pam.

“We’ve also always had high SATS results and I’m extremely proud.”

Reflecting on her personal highlights from her time at Crosthwaite she said she had enjoyed introducing an annual residential outing and involving the children in the arts.

Encouraging outdoor learning with the Forest Schools programme and using nearby woodland educationally has also been another high point.

Before moving to Crosthwaite Ms Warren was head teacher of Shankhill Primary School near Carlisle for 16 years and at Long Marton before that.

But the switch to a small rural primary from city life in Carlisle was a change she had always been looking for.

“I thought it would be nice to come to a village and to be close to the community and that’s why I applied,” she said.

“I’ve really enjoyed the relationship that we have with the parents and families of the children and staff over the course of time. You get to know everybody here.”

Ms Warren, of Arnside, now plans to spend time in France with her partner at their home near Bordeaux and working on projects back in the UK with an eventual aim to travel in the developing world.