The headteacher of a primary school in Church says they are ‘moving forward’ after being told it requires improvement by an education watchdog.

St Nicholas CE Primary School, on Dill Hall Lane, was rated as requiring improvement in three out of five inspection areas, behaviour and safety of pupils, quality of teaching and achievement of pupils, by Ofsted.

Lead inspector Christine Potter carried out the review of the school.

In her report she said: “Pupils do not make consistently good progress in all classes and subjects, because the quality of teaching is not consistently good.

“Pupils do less well in writing and mathematics than they do in reading, and pupils of different abilities are not always given work that is matched well to what they already know and can do.”

However, the inspection said the school had improved in some areas, including leadership and management.

Christine added: “The headteacher provides strong leadership and is well supported by the deputy headteacher and other members of the newly established senior leadership team.

“They have taken decisive action which is already leading to rapid and ongoing improvements.

“They are ambitious for the school and are well aware that they have not yet had sufficient time to have a full impact so that teaching, pupils’ progress and behaviour are not yet consistently good. They have clear plans, already partly successfully implemented in place to achieve this.”

Headteacher Vicky Axon said the report was “very positive”.

She added: “The inspectors spoke to our pupils, who told them that behaviour had improved massively over the last year, which is great. We are working together to move the school forward, we have ambitions. I’m very pleased that it says the children get off to a good start and that pupils feel safe and secure. It also mentions that the senior leadership team are keen to work with parents and give them the opportunity to come into the school.”