A primary school has received a 'requires improvement' rating from Ofsted, lower than its previous 'good' grading.

The R J Mitchell Primary School, in Tangmere Crescent in Hornchurch, was visited by inspectors on June 27 and 28, months after it underwent “major changes” in its leadership including appointing a new head of school.

The resulting report, published on September 20, revealed that while the school has performed well in areas such as personal development, management and early years provision, it needs to improve its quality of education.

The new leaders, the report said, have “high ambition for pupils” and have implemented a curriculum to ensure all pupils enjoy learning. However, the inspectors found that the curriculum is “not embedded” and what pupils learn “does not match leaders’ ambitions.”

They noted that while the effectiveness of new leaders’ efforts into the design and delivery of the curriculum is evident in the early years, their work remains ongoing in other subjects.

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This, they believe, meant that pupils “do not acquire knowledge securely and in depth” across the curriculum currently.

The report further suggested that in subjects where the curriculum is new, the way it is taught “does not routinely help pupils to grasp important ideas and concepts”.

The inspectors thus suggested leaders to continue their focus on training teachers to ensure that all subjects are taught as intended.

In some teaching, the report said, activity choices “do not closely match to the knowledge that teachers want the pupils to learn”. This, it added, leads to “pupils being made unable to apply what they are being taught”.

However, the inspectors also noted that “raising expectations” for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is one of the leaders’ “top priorities”.

On another positive front, the safeguarding arrangements at the school were effective. Pupils are said to play well together and enjoy using a range of available resources.

High level of staff supervision, the report claimed, ensures that any pupil who needs support or care receives it swiftly.

Commenting on the school’s latest overall rating, a spokesperson for the school said that they are “happy” with the report as it reflected “what the leaders already knew”.

The school, they said, has “worked hard to make improvements” that was evident in the fact that they were still rated “good” in all but one area.

The spokesperson added: “We shall continue to work to improve the quality of education for our children and I would like to thank the staff and parents who have supported us through this process.”