A TEACHER has travelled half way around the world to take up a job at a school, near Darlington.

Scott Walter, a mathematics teacher from Melbourne, Australia, wanted to broaden his horizons.

The 26-year-old decided he would like to teach in England and registered with an agency, which found him a place at Hurworth Comprehensive School.

He said: "I didn't have a clue what to expect. All I knew was I was going to a place called Hurworth and that's about it."

He arrived in England on New Year's Day with fiancee Arathi Sriprakash, who also found a teaching job in Loftus, east Cleveland.

Mr Walter, who is living in Redcar, has been pleasantly surprised by what he has found so far.

He said: "It's quite a good school and the kids are really nice. The staff are good and it's a nice area. I've found the accents a bit difficult, sometimes I've had to ask the kids to repeat themselves.

"The teaching is surprisingly similar. I suppose the major difference is we don't have the GCSE qualification in Australia."

Mr Walter is planning to teach at the school until July, then spend the rest of the year travelling through Europe and India.