A special school has been named as one of the best in the country and a model for others to follow.

Nicholas Kemp, 16, works on his laptop with teaching assistant Ellen Farbrother

The schools inspectorate, Ofsted, named Ormerod School, based in Oxford and Woodstock, one of the best schools inspected last year.

Ormerod School caters for pupils with physical disabilities and associated learning difficulties.

An increasing proportion of the school's pupils have severe physical and mental disabilities. The majority of those attending the school have cerebral palsy.

Founded in 1980, the school has 38 pupils based at its nursery department, in Headington, and at a site for 11 to 16-year-olds in Woodstock. The school shares the Woodstock site with The Marlborough School.

The nursery school has equipment designed to help pupils sit upright. Lessons often include songs or rhymes which the children recite.

The upper school's buildings blend in with those of The Marlborough School. Easy access for wheelchair-bound pupils is also provided.

The secondary school's facilities are spread across The Marlborough School site, to make pupils feel included in mainstream education.

The ethos of Ormerod school is to be as inclusive as possible. Pupils with severe mental and physical disabilities have lessons with mainstream students and are encouraged to be independent.

Ormerod pupils are encouraged to take part in all aspects of school life. Lesson plans are drawn up individually to allow pupils to follow as much of the National Curriculum as they can.

Judi Williams, head of the upper school site, said: "On our sports day, for the relays, we made the able-bodied pupils go round the track twice while those in a wheelchair had to go round once.

"We had to change that so the other children had to go round three times. It still worked because the Ormerod children had the experience of waiting for the starter and the excitement of the race."

The policy of inclusion extends to the Ormerod uniforms, which resemble those of The Marlborough School. The schools' buildings and minibuses also resemble each other.

Mrs Williams said: "Parents come here sometimes and say 'these children think they are in the Marlborough School' and for me, that's the best compliment they could make."