Excellent provision is made for pupils from traveller families at a small Oxford first school, Government inspectors rep- orted.

The inspectors praised New Hinksey First School in Vicarage Road.

The leadership and management are very good and the quality of teaching is good overall, said the team from the Office For Standards in Education.

Standards have continued to improve since the 101-pupil school came off Special Measures in October 1998.

New Hinksey School deputy headteacher Julie St Claire Hoare with some of the pupils

The head at the time, Adrian Townsend, had resigned at a Commons reception to celebrate his school's success, in a highly public protest at the school's treatment by Ofsted.

Today, the school has put its past firmly behind it and is celebrating its latest report by Ofsted. Teaching is consistently good, particularly at Key Stage One of the National Curriculum, said the report.

The report said that children's attainment was below average when they arrived, but attributed it to the higher than average number of pupils with special needs and those who have English as a second language. The report said the school has effective methods for catering for these pupils as well as those from travelling families.

The report did criticise the governors for not monitoring pupils' work sufficiently and breaking Government rules by not including details on how the school's special needs budget is spent.

Elisabeth Ledger, chairman of governors, said the committee had been distracted by city reorganisation and the programme of building work at the 1884 site.

Headteacher Jenny Lee said: "It is a fair inspection with an accurate report that reflected the strengths and areas for development."

**Picture: Richard Cave