A DURHAM school has scooped a teaching 'Oscar' for being the best in the land.

Cassop Primary School headteacher Jim McManners collected a gleaming Plato for winning the Department for Children, Schools and Families award for sustainable schools in the National Teaching Awards, at a ceremony at the London Palladium in front of an audience of 2,000 and millions across the country watching on BBC2.

Cassop has won a string of awards for its environmental work. The 102-pupil school has its own wind turbine, recycling centre and organic vegetable garden.

Earlier this year, Ofsted inspectors described the school as outstanding in almost every way.