A TWELVE-YEAR-OLD girl has delighted her parents, schoolteachers and classmates after achieving an A* in GCSE Spanish.

Bea Willacy, who attends Casterton School, studied alongside girls four years her senior prior to taking the exam and could not be happier with her result.

Bea, who moved back to the Lyth Valley last year following 18 months in Alcoy in Spain, admitted the experience had been a little daunting but said she had been determined to succeed.

“It was strange when we first moved back from Spain because I was speaking half English and half Spanish,” she said.

“I think when I first joined the older class the girls thought I was very quiet but then I started to play about with them and we all got on really well.

"They started to tease me but in a caring way and I made some really good friends.”

Proud mum, Jan Willacy said the family had moved to Spain to enable Bea and her younger sister Grace to experience another culture and pick up a second language.

Fully supported by Casterton School, the girls enrolled in a Spanish school and flourished in their new environment.

“When she left the school, Bea was actually up at the top of her year group, despite not speaking any Spanish when we went out there,” said Mrs Willacy. “The girls were the only English pupils there and were not given any special treatment. Bea worked really hard.”

On returning to England, Bea was anxious not to let her new language skills slip and with the help of her parents, the talented young linguist embarked on the challenging GCSE course.

“We are so proud of her and she did it all herself, we didn’t push her at all,” said Mrs Willacy.

“We hoped she would get an A* because she worked so hard and I think it reflects her ability.

"The school are delighted too.

"I think it was really good having Bea in the class as it pushed the older ones to worker harder, as they didn’t want a year seven pupil to outdo them!”