A school has been put on a series of special measures after being given the lowest possible rating by Ofsted.

Beddington Park Primary School, Mallinson Road, was branded “inadequate” after inspectors found safeguarding to be "ineffective" with "too many" pupils feeling unsafe during school hours.

Ofsted reported students felt unsafe because of incidents of bullying and racism, which was not "tackled effectively" by the governors and previous headteacher.

The report also highlighted that pupils do not receive an "acceptable standard of education."

It stated: "Some teachers struggle to manage behaviour and leaders do not provide effective support to help them.

"Incidents of bullying are frequent, many pupils feel unsafe at school because of incidents of bullying and racism.

The headteacher delegated much of the responsibility for keeps logs on behaviour, racist and bullying incidents to administrative staff.”

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The report also highlighted that staff and pupils expressed concerns over the “lack of sufficient adult supervision in the playground.”

The accident logbook revealed a “high frequency of accidents,” with an example of twelve recorded accidents on the first day of inspection ( January 29-30).

Ofsted also reported pupils are "frequently absent" and that teachers do not have "high enough expectations" for pupils with special needs and learning disabilities.

It stated: "Staff do not identify SEND pupil's needs well enough.

Teachers expectations for pupils with SEND are too low and planned activities do not help pupils to achieve as well as they should.

"These pupils are sometimes excluded unnecessarily from whole-class sessions."

The report added that the staff are "committed", but some discussed with inspectors their "heavy workload."

It further stated: "Some staff are disheartened because they do not feel supported by leaders and feel they are criticised if they simply ask for, or need, help.

There is a high turnover of teachers, which adds to the lack of stability for some classes in the school."

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However, Ofsted officers found that its early years provision was "good".

It also found that the children in early years enjoy learning and achieve well.

The report goes onto further say, children are "happy, safe and well cared for, they make friends and behave well."

Ofsted also found the school demonstrated strengths with the staff's subject knowledge, in mathematics and writing.

The report went onto say, pupils write with enthusiasm in response to the books they are reading.

To improve, lunchtime arrangements and playground supervision need to be reviewed and systems for dealing with complaints need to be rigorous and effective.

Ofsted also stated workload demands need to be reviewed and more support for teachers is required to set appropriate activities for pupils with SEND.

The school have published a letter addressed to parents, in response to the report:

"We are fortunate to have an academy supporting us during this time ( STEP Academy Trust) STEP have supported the school since the inspection and the leadership team have actively started improving key areas within the school.

"Safeguarding is a key area of improvement for the school so, in order to ensure areas are developed in a timely manner, we arranged for an external audit to take place in June.

"We are delighted to inform you that the audit was very successful and identified the strengths within the school.

"Although the Ofsted judgement is disappointing for staff and governors, we want to reassure you that we are keen to improve key areas efficiently.

"The school is very appreciative of the support we have been receiving from STEP and the support is set to continue.

"We highly value your comments and questions and under normal circumstances we would have taken this opportunity to invite you all into the school to discuss the report.

"As we are unable to do this as a group, due to Covid-19, we have created an online questionnaire for you to complete if you choose to do so.

"We look forward to having the opportunity to discuss the improvements further with you in the near future."