The headteacher of an "outstanding" Croxley Green infant school said its Ofsted improvement is "fantastic" news.

Janet English’s comments come after Malvern Way Infant and Nursery School was ungraded from "good", achieving the top rating across all four areas of assessment.

The Malvern Way school, which was inspected on March 6 and 7, was deemed to be "outstanding" in areas such as the achievement of pupils, the quality of teaching, the behaviour and safety pupils and leadership and management.

Mrs English, who has been headteacher at the school for ten years, said: "It’s fantastic to see to see the school progress from satisfactory to good to outstanding."

She said: "I am very proud of the whole school community for this achievement, especially considering the increased monitoring standards Ofsted has introduced in the new framework."

She added: "We have a highly talented and dedicated staff team, highly effective governors, wonderful children, and a very supportive parent body."

In the Ofsted report, published on Wednesday, inspectors said that the school is "outstanding" because: "Teachers are continually encouraged to reflect on the quality of learning in their classrooms and how it could be improved for all pupils.

"As a result, teaching is outstanding and is leading to pupils making rapid progress in reading, writing and mathematics."

Inspectors went on to say that: "The pupils’ conduct in lessons, when moving around the school and at playtimes in exemplary. This makes for a calm and harmonious school in which they can learn and develop happily."

When asked what initiatives have been implemented to move the school on from a "good" to "outstanding", Mr English said there had been an increased focus on teaching and learning, which involved more speakers going in to the school and talking to the staff.

She said: "It’s about coaching and mentoring and developing a really good team."

One of the key areas that has been focused on is building up the creativity at the school, particularly in the arts and sports departments.

The school is described as being of "average" size, teaching 315 pupils between the ages of three and seven, with most students being from White British backgrounds.

Malvern Way was last inspected in January 2009.

In order for the school to improve further, inspectors said it should: "Ensure that all teachers are helped to recognise how to take the opportunity to exploit pupils’ responses and the progress they make in a lesson to extend their learning further."