Headteacher Tricia Pritchard has every reason to smile - because extra funding has meant more teachers and fewer pupils in each class, writes Andrew French.

Mrs Pritchard, headteacher of Botley Primary School in Elms Road, Oxford, is one of hundreds across the county who have benefited from a cash boost designed to cut class sizes.

The Government has provided funding to reduce class sizes in primary schools, and there are now no infant classes in Oxfordshire with more than 31 pupils taught by a single teacher.

Nationally, the number of oversized classes of five, six, and seven-year-olds has fallen from 485,000 to just 30,000 since January 1998, Education Secretary David Blunkett revealed this week.

In Oxfordshire the news is even better. In January 1998 there were 3,077 classes with more than 31 pupils but now there are none. This is thanks to Government grants of 1.2m this year and 1m last year.

The money can only be spent on teachers - but the cash boost for more than 200 schools across the county has freed up funding for other school projects.

Mrs Pritchard, who is in charge of 293 boys and girls aged four to 11, said: "In the past, we had one class with 33 pupils but after taking on extra staff, we now have two classes of 26 and two of 22.

"Classes which are around the 25-pupil mark are much more manageable and individuals get much more attention."

Teacher Teresa Jordan, 26, said: "It is much less stressful teaching classes with fewer than 30 pupils."

She added: "Pupils' performances have already improved and I think the Government should continue this funding programme."

Kate Ellis-Sawyer, a pupil at the school, whose favourite subject is literacy, added: "I'm really enjoying my lessons. The teachers are exciting."

Mr Blunkett said eradicating classes of more than 30 had been made a main priority because research showed the youngest children gained most from being taught in smaller classes.

He said that junior class sizes were also starting to fall and the Government was now making 73m available nationally to cut class sizes for eight to 11-year-olds - partly to ensure that young pupils who had benefited from smaller infant classes continued to profit from such classroom conditions when they graduated to junior school.

The county council's education officer Roy Leach said: "This is very good news. The average class size in Oxfordshire has now fallen below 25. In January 1998, there was one class with 42 pupils in.

"There should now be significant and measurable imp- rovements in pupils' achievements. Five, six and seven-year-olds are at that important age where they are acquiring the basic skills of literacy and numeracy so vital to their development as they move through school."

Woodstock Primary School in Shipton Road, Woodstock, is another school benefiting from extra funding. Deputy headteacher Karen Metcalfe said: "The county council has been very quick in making funding available to schools.

"One of our classes for six and seven-year-olds has 36 pupils but the money meant we could employ an extra teacher."