A WORCESTER primary school has been deemed inadequate by Government inspectors because it fails to give pupils an “acceptable standard of education”.

Inspectors said Perry Wood Primary and Nursery School, in St Alban’s Close, Ronkswood, required special measures because of a further fall in standards due to “not enough progress being made in addressing the areas for improvement identified during the last inspection”.

Pupils’ achievement at the end of key stages one and two in reading, writing and mathematics was deemed inadequate, made worse by low attendance levels.

The Ofsted report, compiled by inspector Ken Buxton, said: “Standards attained at the end of year six have been low for the last three years.

“Pupils’ poor language development is evident in their speech, which in turn impacts on their ability to spell correctly and use a wide range of vocabulary in their writing.”

However, teachers were said to have a “secure” subject knowledge and lessons were engaging, although in some lessons “teachers do not take enough account of pupils’ differing abilities with all the pupils in the class being presented with the same task.

“Most teachers have high expectations of pupils but they do not always explain clearly enough what is needed to produce good quality work.

“In a good lesson where this was done well, the teacher used a visualiser to display a pupil’s book on to a screen and then, through class discussion, considered how the piece of work could be improved.”

The overall effectiveness of the early years foundation stage is good.

The report said: “They make good progress, especially in their personal, social and emotional development, so that when they join year one attainment has risen, albeit still below average.”

Headteacher Angela Beddow said: “While we are disappointed with the outcome of the report, we acknowledge the findings and will use this as an opportunity to focus our efforts on those areas highlighted as in need of improvement, which include children’s attainment and the quality of teaching at the school.

“However, in the report there are many positives to highlight; our early years foundation stage was judged outstanding with the quality of education and care that it provides.

“The outstanding leadership of the early years foundation stage was also recognised as providing an excellent quality of provision with a highly effective team of adults and good relationships with parents and carers.”