Education secretary Nicky Morgan joined pupils in the classroom at a world-leading special school in Swiss Cottage.

Mrs Morgan made an official visit to Swiss Cottage School Development and Research Centre, in Avenue Road, on Thursday last week.

The Conservative MP, who succeeded Michael Gove as the government’s education chief, was given a personal tour of the state-of-the-art £24million school by vice-principal Vijita Patel and stepped into a number of classrooms to see lessons in action.

Following her tour, Mrs Morgan, a former West Hampstead resident, told the Ham&High: “What is really impressive here is the progress that each child makes, the curriculum that they learn and the help given to those children who can live independently so that they are able to do that.”