IT can see school applications drop and staff and parents turning away in droves.

When a school goes into special measures – Ofsted’s most serious sanction – confidence can reach an all-time low.

But headteachers at three Oxfordshire schools which have been through the process have talked about how they came out the other side stronger than before.

St Christopher’s Primary, in Cowley, was placed in special measures in May 2009 and taken out in May 2011.

Headteacher Alison Holden said: “When you’re told you are going into special measures, it’s devastating.

“But you get that extra level of support to dip deep and find out what needs to change.”

She described the process as intense but said regular monitoring showed how the school was improving.

She said: “The level of support we had from local authority professionals had a big impact and having an interim executive board of professionals was a real advantage.

“It’s not a nice feeling knowing you’re the head that took a school into special measures and there was a huge spotlight on me.

“But it has strengthened the school and strengthened me.

“We’ve proved we have the capacity to be a good school.”

When Wheatley Park School went into special measures in 2009, it was the only secondary school in the county to do so. But 15 months later, in February 2011, headteacher Kate Curtis and her team brought the school back up to scratch.

Ms Curtis said: “I would certainly say special measures accelerated our progress.

“It made us concentrate on a few priorities which was good for the school.

“We are doing much better as a school than we were three years ago and special measures has been part of that.”

But she added: “What is negative about special measures is the school is at risk of being left with an unfair label which is misleading.”

At Dashwood Primary in Banbury, headteacher Vicki McLean was brought in along with consultant headteacher Louise McGinty in September 2008 to lead the school out of special measures.

Ms McLean said: “When a school goes into special measures, it absolutely hits pupils, so one of the key things is getting the confidence back.

“It’s taken a long time to turn around and people were sceptical at first, but now we have a waiting list. The school has been transformed.”

There are currently five primary schools on special measures, SS Mary and John and John Henry Newman in Oxford, Chalgrove, Wheatley, and Thameside in Abingdon.

County council schools cabinet member Melinda Tilley said: “It is a good thing when it happens but it is very traumatic and it costs a lot of money.

“The improvements can be dramatic.”

fbardsley@oxfordmail.co.uk