FOREIGN visitors to a Darlington school have praised it for making big improvements in the past year.

A group of French exchange students and staff has been at Eastbourne School for a two-week visit.

The French teachers leading the trip have visited Eastbourne six times before and say they have noticed many improvements since last year's trip.

Marie-Cath Villain said she was so impressed by the system of corridor and classroom rules that she would be implementing them in her own classroom at the College Aritide Briand, in Chaulnes.

"My pupils now feel so much more confident about their English because so many English pupils came to them with a genuine intention to communicate," she said.

Acting headteacher Karen Pemberton said the feedback had been fantastic.

The 17 students from Chaulnes have been staying with pupils in Darlington and have gone on trips across the North-East, including to Whitby and the MetroCentre.