Watchdog Ofsted’s national director for education has visited a primary school in Hitchin to meet pupils, staff and governors.

Whitehill Junior School head Steve Mills put out the invitation to Sean Harford, who spent a day at Whitehill and had lunch with students.

Mr Harford said: “It’s clear to me that you are rightly very proud of your school and the hard work you all put in to making it a vibrant, happy and purposeful community. Work hard and be nice to each other – it’s a good way to live your life.”

Mr Mills said: “To be able to question the national director in person about aspects of the inspection process and to challenge on areas which can feel frustrating to school leaders was great. The visit was a long time in the planning, and it did take careful marketing with my staff that he wasn’t coming to inspect, but rather to learn himself.”

At its last Ofsted inspection in 2017, Whitehill received an overall ‘good’ rating.