The standard of education at a nursery in a Catholic primary school is high, a team of inspectors has found.

St Thomas More Nursery, Oxford Road, Kidlington, provides a caring family atmosphere underpinned by a strong Catholic philosophy, according to a report by a team from the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted).

Based at St Thomas More RC Primary School, the nursery, which has 23 youngsters, opened in 1997 and runs independently.

The report said teaching and learning was good and was supported by a positive and effective partnership with parents.

There was a broad and balanced curriculum and and teachers used effective methods of planning and assessment, said inspectors. Staff had high expectations of achievement and behaviour, to which the children responded well, they added.

The team also found that children's attitudes to learning were very positive, and that they were curious, highly motivated and took a lively interest in all they did.

They worked with purpose, took initiative and manage much of their own learning, inspectors said.

The only area which the nursery was told to improve was the evaluation of planning and assessment. But the Ofsted report said the nursery had improved since its last inspection and had met all the targets it was set.

Nursery supervisor Dawn Goodman said: "We had no areas of weakness and we are really proud of that. We are so thrilled, it is an excellent report."