Standards at an Oxford school have "risen dramatically" in the past two years, thanks to the efforts of its headteacher.

Margot Buller, who took over at Church Cowley St James' CofE First School in 1999, has been praised by Ofsted inspectors for her strong leadership.

The inspectors' glowing report, following a four-day visit to the school in Bartholomew Road, Cowley, in July, has been welcomed by parents, governors and staff.

The Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education) team singled out many features of the popular and over-subscribed school which they found to be "very good", as well as Mrs Buller's leadership.

These included the attitudes and behaviour of the school's 314 pupils, the quality of teaching, and relationships throughout the school between pupils, and between pupils and staff.

They found the children were enthusiastic and took pride in their work. They were also polite and courteous and their behaviour was good.

The quality of information provided to parents was also rated highly, as was the overall quality of teaching.

They reported: "This is a good school, (and) standards have risen dramatically over the last two years since the current headteacher's appointment.

"This is due to a clear focus on raising expectations and improving the quality of teaching. The school is well placed to continue to improve and provides good value for money."

The team noted several areas where improvements could still be made in the school, which has a higher percentage of pupils who have English as a second language than the national average.

Standards in writing fell below expectations in Years 3 and 4, and teachers for children with special learning needs or needing help with English were either not used to the best of their ability or did not have enough expertise.

The governors' role in shaping the school's improvement was found to be under-developed and pupils' attendance fell below the national average due to extended holidays in term-time.

Mrs Buller said: "I'm delighted the hard work of all the staff and the support of parents have been recognised.

"There are areas identified within the report as in need of improvement and will form the basis of an action plan."

Governor Liz McMahon said: "We know this is a good school and are glad this has been confirmed by Ofsted."