TRIBUTES have poured in to an inspirational Hampshire head teacher - declared the country's best - after he lost his battle with cancer.

Jeffrey Threlfall, who has been at the helm of Wildern School in Hedge End for the past 11 years, died at home on Thursday, aged 52, with his family at his side.

During his time at the school he saw exam results improve, pupil numbers grow and standards soar - making Wildern one of Hampshire's consistently top performing schools.

He was the current holder of the prestigious National Teaching Award for Head teacher of the Year in a Secondary School beating off competition from thousands of other nominations nationwide.

Despite his illness he had recently travelled to London with his family to receive his CBE in recognition of his passion for making a difference to children's lives.

Together Wildern's acting head teacher Mary Lou Litton and its chairman of governors Glenda Lane issued a joint statement in which they said the school was "deeply saddened" by Mr Threlfall's death.

"Every day he lived out the school motto values of care, opportunity and quality.

"He cared about children and we cared very much for him. He has given thousands of children and so many adults opportunities to achieve, and quality at Wildern meant that he never compromised on high standards.

"Mr Threlfall never gave up and despite intensive medical treatment he was still driven by his belief that children only have one chance and every child deserves to achieve.

"Governors and staff at Wildern will maintain Mr Threlfall's culture of achievement for all.

"We at Wildern know that the school's success is because of the vision, determination and commitment of Mr Threlfall and would like to take this opportunity to offer our most heartfelt condolences to his family for their very sad loss.'' Under his headship Wildern transformed its performance doubling its pupil numbers to 1,760 and academic achievement.

Last summer 84 per cent of pupils gained five or more GCSEs graded A* to C - well above the national and Hampshire average.

School inspectors declared Wildern to be outstanding during its inspection last year and singled out Mr Threlfall for his "inspirational leadership" and praised the "Wildern experience" on offer to all pupils..

Under Mr Threlfall the specialist arts college achieved dozens of different awards and was the first in Hampshire to gain leading edge status allowing it to set an example for other secondary schools.

Instrumental Mr Threlfall was also instrumental in setting up an innovative virtual learning environment for staff and pupils and won a number of national awards for the school's outstanding use of information technology.

The community also benefited from Mr Threlfall's tireless dedication with the creation of The D@rt Centre offering community classes in dance, drama, art and music, the community sports and leisure centre and more recently the Wildern Audio Visual Education Centre that can be used as a cinema.

Alec Smith, head teacher of Saint James C of E Primary School and chairman of the management group of Wildern School's feeder schools said Mr Threlfall would be greatly missed.

"Jeff was a consummate professional. But he was more than that. He was a colleague and friend of mine over many years.

"His contribution to education was immeasurable. He will be greatly missed.

"He was passionate about the welfare and education of children. He believed that everyone should succeed at their level and also cared about the local community."

Councillor David Kirk, Hampshire County Council's Executive member for Children's Services and John Coughlan, Director of Children's Services said in a joint statement.

"Our thoughts and sympathies are with Jeff Threlfall's family at this very sad time. His death has been a shock to all at Hampshire County Council and particularly those of his colleagues from Children's Services who have worked closely with him over the years.

"He has been an inspirational head teacher. Wildern School is an outstanding secondary school and Jeff has worked tirelessly there for the benefit of all pupils who have attended the school.'' Caroline Evans, the chief executive of the Teaching Awards said: "He was both a remarkable man and an exceptional teacher."

Daily Echo editor Ian Murray said: "I am terribly saddened by the news of Jeff's death.

"I met him on many occasions and Jeff always struck me as the most persuasive of head teachers. By that I mean he always put his students and staff first and if that meant strong-arming the editor of the local paper into supporting his latest endeavour so be it.

"A superb teaching professional and a marvellous man. Jeff will be sadly missed by all who knew him.''