THE HEADTEACHER of a failing village primary school put into special measures after its first Ofsted inspection has pledged to turn it around within the next two years.

Education watchdog Ofsted handed Abbey Woods Academy in Berinsfield an 'inadequate' rating after finding staff were failing to provide youngsters with an “acceptable standard of education”.

Inspectors, who will now regularly monitor the Wimblestraw Road school, criticised it for neglecting pupils’ safety and failing to check staff were “suitable” to work with children.

Inspectors Lynne Bradbury and Dawn Breeze spent two days at the academy, which caters for 239 children between three and 11, in May this year.

They deemed it to be inadequate in all five areas assessed, which included leadership and management, behaviour and safety of pupils, quality of teaching, achievement of pupils, as well as early years provision.

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The report added: “Some areas of the academy are off limits to pupils because they are not adequately secured. The site presents extremely difficult challenges for keeping pupils safe."

Staff were praised for their teaching of phonics, which gave most pupils a “sound” basis to develop their reading skills, while interim head Rachel Kluczynski was commended for trying to raise teaching quality.

Headteacher Grant Mottram said staff will work to pull the academy out of special measures by January 2017 after devising an action plan to address inspectors’ concerns.

He added: “Since the inspection, things have moved on apace, building on measures that were already in progress at the time of Ofsted’s visit. We have also acted quickly to assure the safety of the school site and address the safeguarding concerns highlighted by the Ofsted report.

“There is still a huge amount of work to be done though and we are working hard on implementing an updated, comprehensive school improvement plan that will help us put Berinsfield’s school back at the heart of the community.”

The damning Ofsted report came just two years after the academy opened as part of the CfBT Education Trust.

It was formerly Berinsfield Primary School, which was put in special measures in May 2012 after issues relating to teaching quality and inconsistencies in marking.