AS I reminisce about my school days, dull, lifeless classrooms, rickety old wooden chairs and a bespectacled teacher ordering me to be silent and pull my socks up spring to mind.

So I had a bit of a shock when I went to the new Kew Riverside School,which opened in September, to meet headteacher Rachael Phillips.

Colourful rooms named after animals, pleasant lighting, vibrant paintings, unusual yet inviting layouts and furniture all feature in this interesting building where, believe it or not, learning is fun too. "The government want learning to be fun, exciting and innovative and this is what we are doing," Rachael explains.

"Being a new school, we are looking at the best environment, best structure and the best for excellent learning. This is what makes me want to run into school everyday. This is what makes it so exciting."

This is Rachael's first post as a headteacher and coming from a primary school of 680 pupils in Edmonton, North London, which she helped to improve from special measures status, she is no stranger to a challenge.

There are 30 children in reception at present and 16 in year one. They hope to be full by 2008 and have a new intake every September with a new teacher and teaching assistant.

"I had a lot of say in the furniture and layout. Each class is the name of an animal - giraffe and zebra at the moment. Open doors on the classrooms is a better way to learn. I think the whole way we have the school helps learning," the head enthuses.

"If children want to go to the library or go to the IT suite to check something, they can, as long as they are supervised.

"The children are amazing when it comes to IT. They are taking photos with a digital camera and downloading them and they're only five years old!

"If they can do this now, think how amazing they're going to be when they leave.

"This is what I think is important about education and being a human being. Having this is a right. I was not very well behaved when I was a young person. I kicked against the establishment because I knew it was not the best way to learn. I promised I would not do the same to children. You should be encouraged to say what you think. So many people squash that right, we want to make sure it is fun and exciting."

And it is an added bonus for the school to have so many amenities right on the doorstep, as Rachael tells me: "I really like Kew, it is a great resource for the children.

"The school has been located in a fantastic place. It is right on top of the river, Kew Gardens is close. I always say the best classroom in the world is one with the sky over it'.

"We probably go to Kew Gardens once a month at least, last Easter we hid eggs in the bushes and the families went there for a picnic. The recycling plant is nearby and we are working on an educational pack for us to use the river for creative bits and bobs. We also used the retail park for singing at Christmas."

A recent Ofsted report, which gave the school top marks in everything, proves this way of teaching is a tool to learning in a fun way whilst still achieving excellent results.

"Schooling has changed so much over the years and you will find a difference anywhere," says Rachael.

"It is not a lottery for children here, there is a curriculum to work to and we take hold of the curriculum and make it exciting.

"There is loads of excellent research about to show this type of learning works. We are making it physical, because children don't have the concentration to sit still.

"I think it's better not to become a head of a school which has been run by someone else for 20 years, as we would have had to introduce things slowly. But here we could break the rules and we could try things out.

"Ofsted said this school is doing the right thing, doing innovative thinking about how children learn. I passionately believe it is good here, but to have a body like that saying this is what an excellent school should be was amazing."

The school tries to involve families as much as possible which is highlighted in activities such as family French and encouraging parents to offer support with reading and learning in general.

"Parents are so crucial to children's learning," says Rachael.

"We wanted to make the transition from home to school as easy as possible. This is why between 9 and 9.30 in the morning is a time for parents to help their children settle into the classroom."

So although the school has a wonderful way of learning with all these facilities, what is the policy for discipline?

"We have a living together policy. There are very important elements such as being kind, working hard or being honest. If we see someone keeping one of these rules, they get written a leaf to put on the jungle collage in the hall.

"There can even be one written for me or one of the other teachers. This is a central thing for discipline. It is an excellent school community and it is done in a positive way.

"There are sanctions for people who step out of line. If people don't comply with the rules, we never get angry with the children or shout, but we say to them I would like you to change your behaviour'. If they carry on, there are certain steps, ending in them coming to me, but this never happens."

The school is also big on community learning. It will eventually be utilised for adult learning and family learning.

There is a field and IT suite and a music room, which can be used as a resource for the community.

"I see it as a centre for learning. I want to hear about people's projects and see what they want to use the school for. At the moment, the ideas are quite sport orientated, so I would like to broaden it," Rachael explains.

The headteacher is certainly very positive about the future of this extraordinary school and her parting words left me in no doubt that this project will be successful.

"If you believe you have potential, you are looking at success. The world should be full of cans not cannots. Failure is not an option."

Of course there were other reasons for my faith in this school, there wasn't a stern looking teacher or plate of lumpy mash in sight!