A YORK primary school has been put into special measures and will have to become an academy to bring up standards.

Ofsted has rated New Earswick Primary as “inadequate” after inspectors went to the school in November and found standards had fallen since their last visit.

The school’s new headteacher Angela Oswald, who started work after the inspection, said although the report was disappointing the school’s leadership had already identified many of the problems as areas they needed to improve.

“Our focus is to ensure high quality teaching is in place across the school and that pupils meet our high expectations and aspiring targets -regardless of their starting point,” Mrs Oswald added.

“Since I joined the school in January, I have been very impressed by the way staff and the pupils have responded to the challenge of us working together to improve New Earswick Primary School.

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“We are confident that together we can build on some of the positive work being done at the school and improve the outcomes for our pupils in future.”

Going into special measures means the school has to become an academy, and Mrs Oswald said they are talking to both the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the Department for Education to find an academy sponsor.

The inspectors found New Earswick was inadequate in three out of the five categories, and downgraded its overall rating from “requires improvement” given in summer 2015, to “inadequate”.

The school urgently needs to improve teaching and learning, they said, and particularly needs to boost progress made by Key Stage 2 pupils.

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City of York Council’s director of education Jon Stonehouse added: “The recent Ofsted report is disappointing but it is not a surprise as officers at the council have been working closely with the school to support them in the areas identified within the report.

“We are confident that Angela Oswald, who is now settled in the post, will provide the leadership to drive improvement at the school. We will continue to work with her and her staff as well as parents and pupils to ensure that progress is made at the school going forward.”