AN OXFORDSHIRE primary school has received a glowing Ofsted report that praises everything from teaching to children’s behaviour.

Longcot and Fernham Primary School, near Faringdon, is the 23rd primary and 35th school overall in the county to receive the highest outstanding rating.

The rating shows a substantial improvement for the school, which has 102 pupils.

In January 2007 it achieved a rating of satisfactory with good features.

Reporting inspector Keith Sadler said: “There has been excellent and across-the-board improvement since the previous inspection and the school is well-placed to build on its many strengths.

“Staff show excellent capacity for further improvement because a concerted effort by all the staff team has led to the school’s current outstanding quality of education.”

Parents were invited to fill in a questionnaire about their experiences of Longcot and Fernham Primary School.

Each of the 90 responses said children enjoyed attending the school.

Headteacher David Howlett put the school’s success down to improvements in tracking and assessing pupils’ progress.

He said: “We have always felt our care and provision have been very, very good.

“We have got a very close working team of very dedicated teachers who spend a lot of time thinking about the children.”

Of the areas assessed, 22 were rated outstanding, with the remaining nine rated good.

The inspectors noted a gifted and talented scheme was in place to stretch the most able children.

The school is also running University of the First Age courses, which introduce pupils to more challenging subjects.

Mr Howlett said: “When children leave this school, they are confident with writing and speech and confident in themselves, and have well rounded personalities with a great interest in the world around them.

“In the 17th century, an educated person was someone who was well-travelled.

“While we can’t take the children to Italy to look at architecture, we can bring it into school through things like computers, visitors and links with other schools.”

The school was among the first in the county to be inspected under Ofsted’s new, tougher framework.

Michael Waine, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for schools improvement, said: “The number of primary schools in Oxfordshire rated as outstanding is rising all the time and that has to be very good news in laying solid foundations for improvements in attainment at secondary level.

“Nonetheless, schools and ourselves are not complacent, and realise there is still much to be done to achieve our common goal of consistently high performing schools across the county.”