A debate was raging in the office of Cheam Park Farm Junior School as I walked in. It centred around the merits of life-size Lord of The Rings versus Harry Potter chess pieces.

Bizarre, yes, but there was a good reason for it. The school has a new outdoor chessboard and needs to order the accompanying pieces.

Sadly, the discussion only lasted a few moments as headmaster Gordon Drane put his foot down and, against a tide of Frodo supporters, opted for traditional pieces for the chessboard, which is one of the first contributions to the school's quiet area in the playground.

Mr Drane has been at the helm of the North Cheam Junior School for seven years, prior to which he was headteacher at Camden Junior School in Carshalton.

The school is situated in Kingston Avenue. It is fairly big, with more than 400 pupils, aged seven to 11.

It is housed in a comparatively old building alongside some schools in the borough and one of its main priorities is to replace the temporary classrooms in the playground with permanent buildings.

Mr Drane said: "We are looking at a major project to replace all the temporary huts outside with proper brick buildings."

The project is expected to cost at least £900,000 and the school must wait until after April to find out if the education authority can fund the work.

Aside from the need for new classrooms, Mr Drane said there was much to be proud of at the school.

He said one of the best things about Cheam Park is its atmosphere: "It's something that the Ofsted inspector noted.

"When he had finished, the lead inspector said he visited more than 100 schools across the country, but he had never been to one where the children were more responsible."

He said this is achieved through a combination of being firm and fair.

"You've got to make sure wherever possible to praise the children for doing well and working hard and to recognise their success."

Mr Drane and his staff are hoping to set up a school council, which will let pupils in on the decision-making process in certain areas.

The idea of the area, Mr Drane said, is to give children, who want to get away from the hurly-burly of play and lunch breaks, a quiet refuge.

"There will be no ball games or anything like that, a lot of children find playtime stressful with all the running around, so the idea of the quiet area is to give children a place to get away from all that."

Academically Cheam Park is successful, it has had the third highest Key Stage Two results in the borough since SATs began in 1996 and most recently was in the top three per cent of schools in the country for science.

It also has a wide range of sporting and after-school activities and clubs, including chess.

January 31, 2003 12:30