STAFF and pupils at South Petherton Junior School are mourning the loss of "inspirational" head teacher Kate Rawson.

Mrs Rawson died in a car crash on the A358 near Ilminster on Wednesday night (November 8).

Today (Friday, November 10) the school was closed as a mark of respect.

A spokesman for Somerset County Council, which is responsible for education, said: "It is with great sadness that we have learnt of the death of Mrs Kate Rawson in a road traffic collision.

"Kate had been head teacher at South Petherton Junior School for many years and will be greatly missed by school and community alike.

"The school will be closed on Friday as a mark of respect."

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Under Mrs Rawson's leadership, the school achieved great success in inspections by Government education watchdog OFSTED and notched up superb results in key stage two exams.

In January 2005, South Petherton Junior School was rated one of the top schools in Somerset by OFSTED.

The junior school was one of the nine primary and first schools gaining special recognition in the county, ranking it as one of the highest in the local league tables for key stage two.

The school was given an 'excellent' rating, the highest OFSTED can award, across a range of categories including pupils' progress and achievement, pupils' behaviour, relationships and attitudes and the teamwork between staff.

The report described Mrs Rawson as 'inspirational'.

In January 2003, the Chard and Ilminster News supported the school's Buy a Brick campaign to raise £20,000 for two new classrooms.

The appeal was successful and the classrooms were unveiled in July 2004.

On Wednesday night, Mrs Rawson was a front-seat passenger in a Nissan Micra and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The collision involved a silver Volvo XC90 four-by-four, a red Nissan Micra and a black Ford Galaxy.

The Volvo was travelling north from the A303 and the Micra and the Galaxy were travelling in the opposite direction.

The Volvo collided head on with the Micra which was then struck by the Galaxy following it.

A 38-year-old man from Kiev, in Ukraine, who was driving the Volvo, was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and has since been released on police bail.

Police are keen to hear from anyone who witnessed the crash or who may have seen any of the vehicles involved in the collision in the moments beforehand.

Anyone with any information can contact the Collision Investigation Unit on 0845-4567000 or Crimestoppers on 0800-555111.

For a full tribute, read the Chard and Ilminster News on Wednesday, November 15.

To contribute your memories of Mrs Rawson, Click here