Time was when teachers were the ones who gave their pupils marks out of 10.Now modern information technology in the form of the internet has turned the tables in the classroom.

Time was when teachers were the ones who gave their pupils marks out of 10.

Now modern information technology in the form of the internet has turned the tables in the classroom.

And teachers at a West Norfolk high school are getting high marks from pupils on a controversial international website.

Students at Hamond's High in Swaffham are streets ahead of most others in the county in logging on to the site and have named 41 teachers on RateMyTeachers.co.uk.

Most other schools list just one or two teachers, who are marked out of five in three sections - their ability to maintain interest and control a class, the clarity of their teaching and helpfulness towards pupils.

The website, which originated in the USA in 2004 and has been criticised by teachers and education officials since it arrived in the UK last year, has been welcomed by Hamond's head teacher, Yve Srodzinski.

She said that giving students the opportunity to express themselves in this way fitted in with the ethos of the Brandon Road school, which has just over 700 pupils aged between 12-18.

Entries identifying teachers include a "cool" and "uncool" category, with staff who pass the test given a yellow smiling face and the coolest getting a pair of sunglasses.

Among Hamond's staff with the highest mark of five - and who is most definitely judged as cool - is biology teacher Alan Wright.

Website entries describe him as "Great bloke and top teacher", "Excellent, funny teacher, chatty and helpful bloke", and "Best teacher ever".

Other high scorers are language teacher Glennys Chaplin, with a 4.8 rating - "The greatest, she treats you respectfully and is so funny" - and maths teacher Geoff Hinchcliffe (4.5) - "Good teacher and a little old school but always willing to help."

Sixteen out of 41 teachers are rated with four or more points and the average rating is 3.5.

One low-rating teacher (1.8) earns the comment: "Occasionally cheerful (five minutes on Friday)".

Mrs Srodzinski said: "My teachers often go an extra mile with personal commit-ment to students and because they are generally warm and friendly, I know that with an awful lot of students it positively helps their lives."

Dan Pritchard, Norfolk County Council commu-nications officer, said: "It's great that pupils are positive about their school and their teachers, and it indicates the good relationship the school has with its pupils."

But he sounded a warning note: "There can be problems with some websites. There are strict filtering processes within schools and we work with them to block access to inappropriate sites."

Strict rules govern entries on the RateMyTeachers site, which must not include any vulgar or profane words and sexual comments - "Sexy", "Hot" - are banned, along with mention of personal appearance, race, religion and personal comments.