A PRIMARY school has been told it must improve for the second time.

Ofsted inspectors, who visited Balfour Primary School in Brighton on February 11 and 12, gave it the second lowest rating used to judge schools.

They found the school in Balfour Road requires improvement in its quality of education as well as its leadership and management.

The report stated that many of the school leaders, who are new to the job, have a “strong desire for all pupils to do well”.

However, they found that their work is not making the improvement to teaching that it needs to.

The report said: “They do not keep a close enough check on how well newly implemented curriculum plans are being used by teachers.

Planning

“For example, pupils in a Year 5 science lesson were learning about habitats but this did not appear on the planning provided by leaders.

“In this case, leaders did not know whether old or new plans were being used.”

They also found that children were not learning as well as they should in key subjects as lessons were not planned to meet their needs.

The report added: “Consequently, too often pupils do not remember the knowledge and skills they are taught well enough in science, music and geography.

“Teachers sometimes set work that is too easy for the most able pupils and too hard for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities.”

In 2010, the school was rated “Outstanding”, the highest possible rating given by Ofsted.

However, this was downgraded to “Good” in 2012, then to “Requires Improvement” in 2017.

To improve from the rating, which it was given again in the February inspection, leaders have been told to have a better understanding of the “impact of their work” on the pupils.

Leaders have also been told they need to ensure that all subject planning is improved as there are “significant variations” in how the curriculum is planned and delivered across the different key stages.

Improvement must also be made to the planning of lessons for special educational needs (Send) students.

This is because many teachers do not have a good enough understanding of how well pupils with Send are learning in subjects other than English and mathematics.

Praised

Despite this, inspectors praised many areas of the school.

They said: “Children get off to a good start to their education in the early years.

“They develop quickly into confident, independent learners.

“Children develop good learning habits and respond well to knowledgeable and enthusiastic staff.

“They are happy and safe in school and most parents agree.”

The primary school looks after 788 pupils aged between four and 11.

The headteacher started in November 2019, after a period of two years where the school had not had a substantive headteacher.

Many of the school’s governors are also new to post.