A SCHOOL is celebrating receiving a ‘good’ rating in its first Ofsted inspection since it was placed in special measures.

Cutteslowe Primary School headteacher Jon Gray said the result was a huge achievement and it was now aiming to become ‘outstanding’.

Inspectors from the Government’s education watchdog praised the Wren Road school after they visited it last month.

It was the first time the school had been rated since joining the Cherwell School Academy Trust in 2013.

Cutteslowe Primary’s special measures status ceased to apply when it became an academy.

Key areas that inspectors praised were the quality of teaching, early years provision, the behaviour of pupils and the role of governors.

Mr Gray said the impressive turnaround was down to improvements led by staff, new facilities, and also the Oxford Mail-backed Oxfordshire Reading Campaign.

He said: “We are really pleased for the community of North Oxford and for the children.

“For a school to get a ‘good’ rating when it was previously in special measures is a huge achievement and now we will be looking at what Ofsted has said and setting our sights on being ‘outstanding’, so we are very excited.

“What has really helped is the attitude of our staff, who really want to be better teachers and make a difference for our pupils.

“It was also schemes like the Oxford Mail’s reading campaign, which brought in a lot of reading volunteers from the community.”

The school is now advising and mentoring others in Oxfordshire which are struggling.

Mr Gray said: “They are schools in challenging circumstances and working with them is something we would like to develop more because we now have experience in improving standards.”

Ofsted’s inspectors visited Cutteslowe Primary School on March 18 and 19 and said it was ‘good’ in every category, with potential to be ‘outstanding’.

In November 2011, it was placed in special measures and criticised for a lack of leadership, insufficient pupil progress and low attainment.

Mr Gray took over as headteacher afterwards and has overseen its transition to academy status, as well as £2.5m of improvements funded by Oxfordshire County Council and the Department for Education.

The school’s capacity has doubled from about 250 to 520 pupils and new facilities include a new library, cooking areas, computer rooms, a drama studio, gender-specific changing rooms, new classrooms and better facilities for pupils with special needs.