A LAKE District primary school has been placed into special measures by educ-ation watchdog Ofsted.

A two-day inspection in May found Ambleside CE Primary School to be 'inadequate' in the achievement of pupils, quality of teaching and leadership and management.

School bosses said the issues identified by Ofsted had already been the subject of ongoing work and a detailed action plan was being drawn up to enable ‘sustained and rapid improvement for all the children's learning journeys’.

“I, the staff, and governors, are obviously very disappointed in the judgement that the school requires special measures and fully acknowledge the findings,” said outgoing head teacher Clare Garner.

“Parents and the community can be assured that we are working hard to address the issues raised by Ofsted in order to secure an acceptable grading at our next inspection.”

She added: “We have a plan, the right people and good support from the county council and diocese in place to drive forward the required improvements and progress is already well under way.”

Ms Garner said incoming head teacher Sarah Carrick, who takes over the reins in September, was regularly spending time at the 114-pupil school to ensure the handover went smoothly.

The report said the children felt safe at school and attendance had improved.

It said that children made good progress in nursery and reception classes.

“Our first concern is for the pupils, parents and staff at the school and we will be working closely with the school and local authority to ensure all necessary support is offered,” said Michael Mill, the Diocese of Carlisle’s director of education, children and young people.

“We understand that this will come as a shock to parents and I want to reassure them that all issues raised in the report will be robustly addressed.

“A detailed action plan is being drawn up to enable improvement.”