MARAN White, the headteacher who was cleared of assaulting a member of her staff, has been reinstated as headteacher of Robert Le Kyng Primary School.

The school governors agreed the re-appointment during a meeting with Mrs White and Swindon's local education authority after she was found not guilty of common assault following a trial before magistrates in Devizes last week.

She will officially take over from acting head Barbara Jose on April 7, but will take on the role gradually.

The woman who accused Mrs White of assault, Robert Le Kyng teacher Ann Williams, is currently on sick leave and no decision has been made on her future at the school.

Speaking exclusively to the Evening Advertiser, Mrs White, 51, of Old Town, spoke of her joy at getting her job back and the strain of being suspended since June last year.

She said: "I still feel elated about the result, I really do and I'm elated at the prospect of going back to teaching.

"I have no criticism of the governing body, who were exemplary in treating everybody with total fairness."

But Mrs White has harsh words for the legal system, after her case was delayed nine times.

"That is an incredible way to treat someone who is suffering anyway," she said. "It was so frustrating not to be able to have my say and defend myself.

"When someone accuses you of something you naturally want to put the other side across but I could not do it in case it interfered with the judicial process."

Mrs White says that without the support of the town's heads and her professional colleagues the past year would have been far more difficult. Her living room is covered with dozens of cards from teachers she has worked with and alongside over the last 29 years.

She said: "It was similar to being at your own funeral, hearing so many people speak so well of me, and there was a sense that any headteacher in the town knew they could have been in the same situation.

"I didn't know how positively people felt about me and the support I have given my staff through their careers.

"Through it all I never considered walking away from teaching though, I love the job and I feel I do it well, which is what every appraisal of the school has reflected.

"What I've missed most has been the children, and seeing them grow up. When I go back to school, if everyone focuses on the children and their needs everything will be okay."

The Westcott Street school's chairman of governors, Philip Ashdown, said: "Reinstating Mrs White was a straightforward decision, it has been a difficult period for us and we attempted to treat everybody concerned in the same way.

"Mrs Williams is off sick at the moment and in the course of time I think her position will become a lot more clear. "

Martin Plaster, regional officer of the National Association of Headteachers, said he was delighted that Mrs White had been reinstated.