ONE of Britain's smallest schools has launched its own recruitment campaign in a bid to boost pupil numbers.

Rookhope School, in Weardale, has just 22 children on the roll - five infants and 17 juniors.

And teaching staff so are determined to keep the 126-year-old school going they have launched a pioneering advertising campaign.

They have designed a series of posters urging parents to exercise their right to choose and send their children to Rookhope.

The posters will be used throughout Weardale and further afield.

Rookhope comes second to Forest-in-Teesdale, which has just 15 pupils, for the primary school with the lowest roll call in County Durham. There are even smaller schools in rural areas of Northumberland.

But it boasts an unrivalled level of education for its pupils, who receive tuition from the school's two full-time teachers, with support from a special needs teacher and a steady flow of students from Durham University and Bishop Auckland College.

As well as the usual lessons every day, music and French are also on the curriculum.

"You could not pay for the quality of education we provide at this school," said headteacher Jane Howstan. "The school occupies a unique place in the community. It is, in many ways, the heart of the community."

Because a lot of the pupils live on isolated farms dotted around the former lead-mining centre, Mrs Howstan is anxious to develop the pupils' social life and expose them to different aspects of adult life. This has led to school visits from local people such as firefighters and gamekeepers.

Pupils are also taken on regular visits to museums and other places of interest outside Weardale. They have also been to Sunderland Football Club's Stadium of Light.

Mrs Howstan said they hoped the advertising campaign would attract pupils from other parts of Weardale, notably Stanhope and Wolsingham. But they also hoped parents from places such as Blanchland and Slaley, in Northumberland, would send their children "over the tops" to Rookhope.

She hoped they would be particularly interested in their nursery classes, which are held every Monday and Tuesday morning.

"It seems incredible, but there are people in the dale who do not know we even exist. We aim to put that right," said Mrs Howstan.

A spokesman for Durham County Education Authority said the main criteria for supporting small schools in rural areas was that they fufilled a specific need and "did a sound job."

An extra budget of £11m had been set aside by the authority to provide the right level of support for small schools. There were several in the county with between 30 and 50 pupils.

The spokesman added: "The authority has no firm guidelines about closing schools because they become too small to be viable.

"Wherever possible the policy was to keep them open to avoid the heavy costs of transporting children long distances to new schools."