THE passion and dedication of a headteacher who died last year has been remembered at the reopening of her former school’s community hall.

Julie Burn, headteacher of St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Frizington, was the driving force behind the revamp of the hall, which sits next to the school.

The Bishop of Lancaster, Paul Swarbrick, led a ceremony this week to officially open the Julie Burn Hall, during the school’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

Past and present pupils, parents, parish councillors and villagers attended the ceremony before sharing memories and looking at old photographs.

They then gathered for a coffee afternoon.

One of the guests was Teresa McConville, who was the school’s first secretary when it opened 50 years ago.

The school’s acting head, Faye Eldon, said it was an extremely emotional day.

“Mrs Burns was the driving force behind the whole project. She wanted the hall to be used by the children and part of the community.

“It’s a real testament to Julie. She would have been very pleased.”

Mrs Burn died last December after a battle with cancer at the age of 59. A plaque has been placed at the hall to mark her involvement.

Speaking about the event, Mrs Eldon said: “It was a really lovely afternoon. Lots of people from the Frizington community came together and shared memories and looked at old photographs.”

The community hall has a classroom and kitchen inside, and is also used for school plays and sports events.

It can be hired out for community use.

Mrs Burn was headteacher at the Frizington school from 2012.

She was passionate about English teaching in the school and introduced an innovative new learning method for maths.

She had previously taught at St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School in Cleator Moor.

Born in Rochdale, Mrs Burn moved to West Cumbria after her marriage to Steve, who was working at Sellafield, in 1986.

She took a job at St Patrick’s Infant School, which later merged with the junior school.

She mostly taught year two and was special needs co-ordinator.

Following her death, Claire Jackson, the school administrator, said she "turned the school around."

"Our results improved under her, especially in English because that was her subject," she said. "She encouraged the love of reading and developed the library.”

Mrs Burn also introduced Maths Mastery, an innovative way of teaching numeracy, to the schoo

Mrs Burn and her husband had two children, Jessica and Oliver.