A failing primary school has been ordered to improve the behaviour of its pupils and carry out better background checks on its staff.

St Theresa’s Catholic Primary School, in East End Lane, Finchley, dropped from Ofsted's second highest ‘good’ rating to its lowest ‘inadequate’ in its latest Ofsted report.

The inspection, carried out in October, said there were “serious weaknesses”, with teachers and other employees at the school not subject to the proper checks.

The report said: “The school’s work to keep pupils safe and secure is inadequate. This is because safeguarding systems and records are not fully in place.

“Systems for checking staff who work at the school are not sufficiently rigorous.”

The behaviour of the pupils was also found to be inadequate, although children told inspectors that bullying was rare.

Although pupils were found to take pride in their work and behave well around school and in lessons, inspectors noticed “when the pace of learning drops, there is some low level disruption”.

The report added: “School records concerning poor behaviour, including bullying and discriminatory behaviour, are too limited.

“Individual class teachers keep a log of behaviour incidents in their class, but these are not analysed to identify pupils at risk.”

It added: “The school keeps records of accidents and sickness. However follow-up checks are not always carried out following accidents at school and this further places pupils at risk.

“Supervisory staff do not always intervene to prevent a few children from playing too roughly at break times.”

It did, however, say the majority of parents say their child feels safe at school and that pupils know about keeping safe on the internet and road safety.

The quality of teaching, and achievement of pupils was all judged as good.

The report praised headteacher Maureen Kelly, and the way reading, maths and writing are taught.

It said: “Pupils are encouraged to challenge themselves by trying harder at work. Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs achieve well.”

Pupils regularly achieve grades above the national average in maths and reading at the end of Key Stage 1 and 2.

The way the reception classes for children aged four and five are run was also graded good, with the report stating: “Routines are well established and they get on well together.

“Learning in this part of the school is well led and managed. The new leader has a good understanding of the provision’s strengths and what needs to improve.”

A consultation on whether St Theresa’s should merge with Sacred Heart, in Whetstone, and St Catherine’s, in Barnet, to form the Lumen Christi Academy ended in November.

Although all the schools received an “overwhelmingly positive” reaction to the idea, it is unclear how this Ofsted rating will affect the merger.

The Times Series has attempted to contact St Theresa's for a comment.