A primary school in Dorset has been branded ‘Inadequate’ following an Ofsted inspection.

Wool Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School was inspected on June 5-6 and received a scathing report from the education watchdog.

It would appear that standards have been slipping at the school in recent years. In 2008, the school received an ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted rating but in 2017 this fell to ‘Requires Improvement’.

This latest report said: “This school requires significant improvement”

The school requires improvement in ‘Effectiveness of leadership and management’ and ‘Personal development, behaviour and welfare’ but its overall effectiveness, quality of teaching, outcomes for pupils and early years provision are inadequate.

A lack of stability at the school in recent years is partly to blame for the issues highlighted by Ofsted. The report states that: “Frequent changes in leadership have had a detrimental impact on pupils’ progress and the quality of education provided by the school.”

The inspector also wrote that “the curriculum is poorly implemented,” that teaching is “weak” and teachers do not have consistently secure knowledge in their subjects.

However, the report states that “the new substantive headteacher has made a significant and positive impact since her arrival.”

“Recent changes, most notably raising teachers’ expectations, have the potential to rapidly improve the quality of education.”

This may suggest that the school’s fortunes could soon be turned around. The report also praises the relationships between staff and pupils and says that “the Christian ethos of the school shines through.”

According to the report, “parents and carers report that their children are safe, happy and well looked after” at the school.

The inspector has given the school a list of things that it needs to do to improve further, including “planning a curriculum that develops pupils’ skills so they make the best possible progress across all subjects.”

The report asks that teachers quickly improve in a number of areas, which include having higher expectations, improving their subject knowledge and raising their expectations of their pupils.

External reviews should be undertaken, according to the inspection report, to review the school’s governance and use of pupil premium to assess how these aspects of leadership and management may be improved.