STAFF and pupils at Bicester's oldest primary school are celebrating their first anniversary in their new home after being praised by the education watchdog Ofsted.

St Edburg's School saw its rating go from 'requires improvement' to 'good'. It came a year after it moved to a new site in Pioneer Way, Kingsmere.

The report highlighted areas such as pupil's enjoyment and pride in their school and teachers' enthusiasm and commitment to providing an exciting curriculum.

Headteacher Margaret Kunzer said: "The new Ofsted rating was the best thing to be able to celebrate our first anniversary."

She added: "The report mentions quite nice things particularly about friendship and respect. Often you read about how good results are at good schools, but it is also about ethos.

"It recognises the hard work that everybody has done. It is a whole team effort including the parents, children, staff and governors."

The primary school was told it required improvement in September 2014 following concerns about regarding pupil's achievements.

Since then, the school worked hard to improve its curriculum and engagement ahead of the inspection in November.

The report said: "Teaching is good at the school. The choice of topics and enthusiasm of teachers inspire children so they concentrate well and are eager to learn."

It added: "The school is a happy place and pupils are proud of their school.

"Pupils show a high degree of respect for each other. They say that friendship is one of the things that we are known for."

Mrs Kunzer added: "One thing [from the last inspection] was about making the curriculum really exciting. They said that children were really enjoying their learning and loved whole school topics."

The school moved from its old building in Church Street, where it had been since 1859.

The school relocated to its new home in Kingsmere last January to cater for a growing need for more school places.

Mrs Kunzer said: "We set about embracing the change in location, as we were aware a move could distract learning but we made it a learning experience.

"We wanted to think about what was important such as our history and ethos and used this to learn about ourselves as the oldest and newest school building.

"It is really excited being on the Kingsmere site and with Bicester itself during a time of real change and growth."