SCHOOLS in the North-East and North Yorkshire have been named among the best in the country.

A list compiled by school inspectors Ofsted has picked out the schools and colleges across the country which have been classed as outstanding, during the 2004-2005 inspection year.

North Yorkshire headteacher Lynne Wood achieved a national first and a double celebration - appearing on the list twice.

She is headteacher of both Bilsdale Midcable Chop Gate Primary, and Carlton and Faceby Primary, which are both near Stokesley.

The confederated schools have 15 and 23 pupils, respectively, are six miles apart and are among the smallest in the country.

Ms Wood said: "We are absolutely delighted. I have two amazing teams, great support from the community and the children are at the heart of everything we do."

Each school has two classes and between them they have ten full and part-time teachers and teaching assistants.

Ofsted has heaped further praise on a handful of schools which have featured on their list on more than one occasion during the past 13 years.

These include Macmillan Academy, in Middlesbrough, which first featured as an outstanding school in 1998.

Principal Ken Fraser said 19 inspectors visited the school earlier this year.

"They left no stone unturned - it was a solid evaluation.

"We are delighted to have made this list twice. We aim for high standards and we want high standards in everything we do," he said.

Other schools to make the list include Wingate Nursery School, in Wingate, County Durham, Rosemary Lane Nursery School, in Peterlee, east Durham, and Lumley Medway Infant School, in Chester-le-Street.

Nationally, just over 450 schools and colleges made the outstanding list.

Among them were neighbours Red Rose Primary and St Cuthbert's RC Primary, in Chester-le-Street.

Tom Baker, deputy headteacher at Red Rose Primary, said June's inspection was the third in his 22 years at the school, each being successively more impressive.

"It's a very nice accolade for the school and one which everyone deserves," he said.

At nearby St Cuthbert's Primary, headteacher Sean Brown paid tribute to the hard work of the children, parents, staff and governors.

Chairman of governors David Cantwell said the school had failed in several attempts to secure funding to improve facilities.

"It's wonderful we have been honoured by Ofsted, but it makes me wonder what we could achieve if we had a new school building and up-to-date facilities," he said.

Woodhouse Close Junior School, in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, was also singled out for praised because it had made a rapid turnaround after deemed to be failing in 2001