Fractured relationships between staff, governors and senior leadership have hindered the improvement of a Carlisle school which Ofsted has rated as inadequate.

Caldew Lea Primary School's latest report by the school regulator states "leadership at all levels in ineffective" and that relationships need "urgently mending."

The school in Ashley Street, Caldewgate, will now become an academy in line with government policy.

It was rated inadequate in two out of the five key inspection areas - effectiveness of leadership and management, and personal development, behaviour and welfare of pupils.

Ofsted said it requires improvement in the areas of early years provision, pupil outcomes and the quality of teaching learning and assessment.

Commenting on leadership, inspectors reported that Claire Little and Sarah Leigh, the headteacher and assistant headteacher appointed in 2017, set out their vision and ambition for the school.

"Neither of these has been realised due to fractured relationships between leaders and staff," said the report. "The atmosphere of discord which has developed between staff, governors and the senior leadership team is hindering the improvement of the school."

Inspectors, who recognised there have been a number of recent staffing changes, said that while a new behaviour policy has been introduced there were inconsistencies in the management of pupil behaviour.

"Fights and a range of misbehaviour on the playground and around the school are a regular occurrence. Inspectors saw examples of these issues during the inspection," stated the report.

Key findings also include:

  • Fixed term exclusions are above the national average and incidents of unacceptable behaviour are "far too common."
  • Pupils attendance is below the national average.
  • Parents, carers and some staff have lost confidence in the school's leadership.
  • Inconsistent achievement across the curriculum.
  • Leaders do not effectively use funding for pupils who have special education needs and disabilities, and these pupils do not achieve as well as they should.

Strength include staff planning engaging trips and visits to support learning and pupils leaving the school with attainment in maths and English inline with national averages.

Mrs Little is no longer at the school and Calum (corr) Campbell has been appointed interim headteacher and will work with assistant headteacher Sarah Leigh to implement improvements.

"Although the inspectors recognised a number of positive features of the school, they found too many areas where performance was not good enough and did not meet expected standards," said Mr Campbell.

"Following the inspection, staff and governors have worked hard alongside the local authority to set out improvement plans in order to move the school forward and address the issues raised by the inspector and to make Caldew Lea the fantastic school that we all know it can be.”

Susan Graham, chair of governors, wrote to parents to explain how the school planned to improve.

The behaviour policy is being reviewed to guarantee staff are aware of the procedures to follow.

An external review of the board of governors has taken place and governors have been trained to strengthen their understanding of the school's development.

Staff have also looked at the curriculum to ensure planning and teaching is matched carefully to pupil's interests and abilities.