AFTER being told more than two years ago that their Abingdon school required improvement, staff are celebrating after moving up Ofsted's rankings.

St Edmund's Catholic Primary School has been issued with a good rating – the education watchdog's second highest – after a visit from inspectors.

Headteacher Maria Delany-White said she was delighted that the work of her staff had paid off.

Inspectors had particular praise for Mrs Delany-White's leadership and the "thriving, multicultural" community she led.

The quality of teaching and pupil's attitude to work was also noted and pupils were said to be well behaved and eager to learn.

Mrs Delany-White said: "We are delighted that Ofsted judged us to be a strong good in all areas during our recent inspection.

"Since I took on the headship in April 2014 I have worked tirelessly with my dedicated and committed team to make sure that all of the areas identified in the last Ofsted report were fully addressed and that the children of St Edmund's are provided with the highest quality education we can provide.

"I am therefore delighted that the inspectors recognised the strong leadership which has led to the establishment of an ambitious culture for pupils to do well academically and personally."

The 223-pupil school caters for youngsters aged from three to 11.

In their report inspectors Steven Hill and Kusum Trikha said children got off to a good start in the early years and were provided with interesting tasks by teachers.

They were also said to have good relationships with staff.

The inspectors said: "Teachers motivate pupils greatly through encouraging and challenging feedback.

"This is very effective in helping pupils to improve, which can be seen clearly when pupils refine and improve their work in class."

They said the school could improve even further if the most able pupils were fully challenged and recommended teachers checked on how well all pupils got on in lessons.

They also recommended more consistent day-to-day assessments in the early years.

John Matthews, chairman of the board of governors, said: "Our last Ofsted inspection was in February 2014, at which time we had been without a headteacher for six months following the retirement of our previous head.

"As a governing body we were clearly disappointed by the finding of requires improvement.

"This spurred us on to improve our own practices, however most important was to find and appoint a new talented and energetic headteacher who could lead and drive the improvements needed.

"In my opinion we achieved this in spades with the appointment of Mrs Delany-White.

"We, the governing body, and Mrs Delany-White and her team of dedicated staff look forward to making further strides."