A headteacher has moved to reassure parents after her school was told it needed to improve by government inspectors.

Ofsted found teaching at Kelmscott School in Walthamstow was not consistently good and pupils’ attitude to learning was described as “too passive”.

But inspectors praised the school for improving student achievement in a wide range of subjects and its support for disabled children, as well as those with special educational needs.

Ofsted also found the school was “particularly strong” at caring for children in vulnerable circumstances.

Headteacher Lynette Parvez said she was not happy that the school had slipped from a previous “good” rating, but said tougher criteria mean many schools were in the same position.

She added the school came close to reaching the standard and had been recently rated in the top 12 per cent in the country using RAISEonline, which analyses performance based on data relating to pupil progress.

She said: “There’s not much there of a major concern.

“To me [RAISEonline) is a fairer way of showing how a school is doing.

“It’s not just about A to Cs, it’s about how well the children are doing in comparison to where they started.”

She added that Ofsted inspectors told her they felt the school’s rating would move to ‘good’ at the next inspection.