Tributes have been paid to Joe Johnson, former headteacher of Sandhills Community Primary School, who died just two weeks after retiring.

Mr Johnson retired as headteacher from the school in August after 18 years in charge.

In his time at the school, Mr Johnson saw its transformation from a Second World War building into a new £3.2m high-tech facility in Terrett Avenue, Headington.

Mr Johnson, who was 58, also oversaw the installation of a wind turbine at the school that provided a quarter of its energy.

Friends have described the former headteacher as a man who was passionate about his job and always put the needs of his pupils before anything else.

City councillor Laurence Baxter, who was a former pupil of Mr Johnson and also a governor at Sandhills, said: “I knew him very well. He was a great teacher. His death is so sad. Joe had only just retired and he was one of those guys that planned to do something with his life in his retirement.

Mr Johnson became a headteacher at the age of 29, taking on the role at Stadhampton Primary School, and then nine years later he moved on to Sandhills Over the course of his career, he became chairman of the National Association for Primary Education and was also president of the Oxfordshire branch of the National Association of Head Teachers.

Oxford East MP Andrew Smith, who had known Mr Johnson for the past 20 years and who attended his funeral, described his friend as “inspirational.”

He said: “He was held in the highest regard and affection by children, ex-pupils and parents.”

Mr Johnson passed away on September 8, from cancer.