A HEAD teacher has been hailed as ‘inspirational’ after her village school received top marks from the government’s education watchdog.

Andrea Walker was singled out for praise, along with the teaching staff and governing body as Old Hutton Church of England Primary School was rated ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted.

Four areas of the school - effectiveness of leadership and management; quality of teaching; learning and assessment; personal development, behaviour and welfare and outcomes for pupils - were marked as outstanding.

Its early years provision was marked as ‘good’.

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Mrs Walker said: “We are absolutely thrilled with the report as we feel that it celebrates well our character as a small school with a big family feel and a place where children are successful across the full spectrum of areas of learning - the social, moral, spiritual and cultural, as well as the academic.

“It is a great recognition of the talents, dedication and hard work put in daily by everyone in our whole school team to achieve the very best we can for our children.”

The report described Mrs Walker’s leadership as ‘inspirational’, adding: “Her strong vision and passion have been the key reasons why the school has improved and is now outstanding.”

The school, which currently has 65 pupils, was previously rated as ‘good’.

Lead inspector Sue Eastwood said: “Teaching and learning is outstanding. The way teachers use their in-depth knowledge of pupils to plan for their learning needs is impressive.

“The curriculum is inspiring. It is based on a range of stimulating and fun ‘real life’ experiences. Consequently, learning is meaningful and pupils thrive.”

“Pupils have a strong sense of identity. They are valued citizens and have a real sense of their part in the wider community.”

Pupils were said to be ‘extremely positive’ about their learning, with their behaviour described as ‘outstanding’.

Areas the report said could be improved were removing ‘occasional lapses in the pace of learning’ for Key Stage 1 and further improve the early years provision by enhancing the indoor and outdoor areas.

Old Hutton was also rated ‘outstanding’ in its SIAMS church school inspection in October.