A SECONDARY school has 'transformed' its reputation and regained the community's trust with a top Ofsted rating.

John Mason School in Abingdon has been judged to be 'good' overall by the education watchdog, with the highest 'outstanding' rating for its sixth form provision.

The 971-pupil academy in Wootton Road had previously been rated 'requires improvement' in January 2017, but it was reinspected last month.

Inspectors said the school's headteacher Sarah Brinkley and her team had 'worked tirelessly to improve the school.'

The new report said: "The reputation of the school has been transformed within the community.

"Staff share leaders’ ambitious vision for every child to have access to high-quality learning opportunities, which encourage them to become academically successful, happy, resilient, enquiring young people."

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The regulator said pupils 'talk warmly about their teachers' and A-Level results in 2018 were in the top 20 per cent in the country.

Inspectors described sixth formers as a 'credit to the school' and 'excellent role models for younger pupils.'

Teaching of creative subjects across the school was said to be 'exceptionally strong' while relationships between staff and pupils were described as 'extremely caring and respectful.'

Mrs Brinkley, who joined the school in September 2015, said the report is a 'brilliant' reflection of the school.

She added: "I have always been proud to be headteacher at John Mason - it is a fantastic community school that offers so many rich opportunities for our students.

"Over the last few years, standards have been driven up by a committed team of staff, and great parents and students, who are justly proud of their school.

"This report is for them: they did this."

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She said every child 'has the potential to achieve extraordinary things' and the school has always aimed to provide the opportunity and support to allow that.

Barry Graham, chair of governors at the school, said: "We are very pleased that the report recognises the hard work of all the staff and now officially recognises the great achievements we have seen over the last few years.

"We are excited to be working with the other schools in Abingdon Learning Trust and other local institutions to build on this success and improve the opportunities for all young people in the area."

Ed Duckham, director of sixth form at John Mason, said students are offered a 'broad wealth of opportunities' including the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award.

The report has already been shared with parents should be published on Ofsted's website in the coming days.