MAGS LONG, the popular head of Tavistock's St Rumon's infants' school, has won the national award for best leadership of a primary school.
She took one of the 15 Plato awards and a cheque for £23,500 to spend on the school. This will enable her to carry out improvements to the building and buy equipment which would have had to wait for three years.
The school has 150 four to seven year-old pupils from the town and Peter Tavy. Mags received the prize, a gold plaque presented by actor Simon Callow, at a ceremony in the Millennium Dome in London on Sunday and came back to a school bedecked with congratulations signs, cards and bunches of flowers.
The competition between 1,500 nominated schools and teachers, involved rigorous inquiries by the judges, all with teaching experience, among parents, children, governors and teachers.
Mags has been head of the school for 13 years. 'When I arrived it was a typical Victorian school, dark and high-ceilinged,' she said. 'Now it is bright and friendly, isn't it? We have exceptionally high teaching standards, but we have a lot of fun along the way.'
She said she had 'not the slightest idea' why she had been chosen — 'they could have chosen any of my colleagues, they all work hard and are committed.'
St Rumon's recently had its outstanding status re-affirmed by Ofsted inspectors. It is consistently oversubscribed by parents and has 100 applications for any teaching vacancy.