Ms Flint met the new headteacher Mrs Lynne Jarred when she dropped into Coppice School, which opened in September 2008 after a borough-wide re-organisation.

Ms Flint was also given a tour of the school by school prefects Matthew Dale, Victoria Francis, Jeffrey Allen and James Flower.

She was also shown the vegetable garden and greenhouse and the school library, and saw the interior building work to create an area of the school that is exclusively for the 16+ pupils.

Said Ms Flint: "Coppice is an improving school with a very varied intake of pupils and a new headteacher, Mrs Jarred, who has very clear ideas for enhancing the school experience for the pupils. The staff are clearly dedicated to their work.

"The prefects were model hosts: polite, informative and well organised. I was particularly excited to see the horticultural project. The pupils were very enthusiastic and were keen to talk about their work and show me the projects they were involved in."

Mrs Jarred added: "I was very proud of the way our prefects conducted the visit. Both the staff and children enjoyed Caroline's visit.

"It was very informal and relaxed and Caroline interacted well with the pupils. We look forward to her next visit."

Coppice is a special school for 105 pupils aged three to 19-years-old with severe learning difficulties, autism or challenging behaviour.