Education in West Oxfordshire is on the up.

With no fewer than three schools having recently made the jump from ‘inadequate’ to ‘good’ in the eyes of Ofsted inspectors, it would seem teachers are teaching and pupils are learning better than ever.

Pupils and staff at Wood Green School in Witney, The Gateway Primary in Carterton, and Carterton Primary School, were all understandably delighted their schools had pulled themselves out of special measures.

Speaking to Wood Green headteacher Rob Shadbolt it is very clear the school has looked intently at everything it does, has challenged itself and completely overhauled its data systems to ensure it meets Ofsted’s exhaustive requirements.

However, one has to sympathise with Mr Shadbolt’s view that much good practice existed at the school even while it was in special measures, and his annoyance that the school was branded failing for two years even though much of what he saw happening in the classroom was good.

However, the schools have the right to ask questions of the system itself which judges them so intently and can hold their reputations in the balance.