A PRIMARY school headteacher has praised staff, pupils and parents after it was rated “outstanding” by Ofsted.

In 2006, Windmill Primary School in Headington was ranked as inadequate by inspectors and was given a notice to improve.

Headteacher Lynn Knapp, who joined the Margaret Road school in 2007, has overseen a dramatic turnaround in fortunes.

In 2010, inspectors gave the school a “good” rating but it has now been ranked in Ofsted’s highest category.

Mrs Knapp said: “We are absolutely elated. Everything we value has been recognised in the Ofsted report.

“We have worked so hard. The school is part of the Headington community.

“It is such a great way to end the school year and my deputy headteacher Andy Spooner, who I started with together in 2007, has gone to take up a headteacher’s job at St Nicholas Church of England Primary School in Abingdon. It is a great way to finish our time together.”

She said the school had turned itself around by looking at what it could do to make education work for every child.

Mrs Knapp said: “We targeted children as individual learners and knowing how to face a challenge.

“That was picked up last inspection and we have addressed that.”

Ofsted inspectors Jenny Batelen, Spencer Allen and Christine Curtis visited the school on June 24 and 25 and their report was published on July 16.

The school, which has 540 pupils, was ranked “outstanding” in all areas.

Mrs Knapp said despite the good rating, she would still always work to improve the school.

She said: “We still want to move things on and build on what we have got because we know we are not perfect, but the pressure is off for a bit now.

“The Ofsted report said that not all parents knew where their children were in terms of their progress and that is something we need to discuss.”

The report said pupils’ work in books needed to always reflect the high standard of learning across the school and noted Mrs Knapp was working to improve communication with parents.

The report was otherwise positive, saying: “The entire school community shares the passion and vision of the headteacher to ensure that pupils can achieve the very best they can and that teaching is of the highest standard.”