ONE of Devon’s smallest schools has a new face at the helm.

Sophie Browse has taken over as headteacher at the popular Doddiscombsleigh Primary School.

With fewer than 50 pupils on the role and mixed-age classes, the ‘good’ rated village primary is renowned for its small teacher to child ratios and caring learning environment.

The school is also well known for the Doddiscombsleigh Art Show which last year made £24,000 towards school funds.

This money pays for trips and opportunities for the children at Doddiscombsleigh, such as the recent theatre trip to see Awful Auntie at Exeter’s Northcott Theatre.

Miss Browse, a second generation teacher following in her mother’s footsteps, is originally from Mid Devon but now lives in Bovey Tracey.

Having previously taught at St Michael’s C of E Primary, Kingsteignton, she is relishing her first opportunity of leading a village school.

She said: ‘I absolutely love it and there is such a fantastic community spirit and wonderful family feel to the school.

‘The Doddi school community is very supportive with parents getting behind everything we do and staff knowing every child so well, which is such a great benefit of a small village school.

‘We are partnered with the highly respected United Schools Federation (USF) so not only are there wonderful opportunities for activities that a smaller school like ours might otherwise struggle to provide, there’s also excellent support for me and my colleagues.’

Miss Browse is focused on honing her leadership skills and delivering classroom experiences that reflect individual needs.

She added: ‘The experiences I’ve had with the USF, and the excellent teamwork we have here, means we can be innovative and try new things.

‘Our children deserve nothing but the best and together that’s what we’ll strive to achieve, it’s the reason we do what we do.’