A PRIMARY school has been rated inadequate in a damning inspection report which highlights "serious flaws" in its ability to keep children safe.

In the report, published yesterday (Tuesday), Ofsted inspectors say Dines Green Primary School, in Tudor Way, Worcester, is failing across the board – and recommends it be placed in 'special measures'.

Pupils at the school were praised for their "polite and respectful" behaviour, while it was noted early years teaching standards are good.

However, safeguarding procedures were rated 'inadequate', with inspectors finding children were not properly supervised at break times – and were allowed to use their laptops unsupervised.

The investigation also found school governors failed to ensure a "strong culture of safeguarding" at the school.

The report said: "There is no culture of safeguarding in the school. Too many staff have not received the necessary training to know how to keep pupils safe.

"Governors have not checked the safeguarding policies and procedures and, therefore, a number of serious areas of weakness exist.

"Government guidelines to recruit staff safely are not followed."

The report also found teachers' expectations of what pupils can achieve is too low, resulting in pupils making 'inadequate progress' reading, writing and mathematics.

In addition, basic errors in punctuation, grammar and spelling were left uncorrected – while in some maths and English lessons, it was noted teachers made mistakes.

It was also found pupils with special educational needs and/or learning disabilities are not properly supported and are falling further behind in progress.

And it was reported attendance rates are below the national averages and are not improving.

Sara Longmire, headteacher at Dines Green, said: "We are all very disappointed with the outcome of the Ofsted inspection and we know it will be a worrying time for parents.

"We acknowledge the findings and we've already started addressing the areas where improvement is needed.

"The school will work closely with Ofsted and Worcestershire County Council to gain a clear understanding of what needs to be done to improve outcomes for our pupils.

"This school and its staff are committed to working alongside parents and the local community to address the recommendations made in the Ofsted report and we are confident that we can successfully implement the improvements that are needed."

The inspection took place between February 7 and 8, and followed a previous visit in February 2015, when the school was rated 'requires improvement'.

Key findings by Ofsted

* Staff do not understand safeguarding and are not trained to keep pupils safe

* Pupils are not supervised properly at break times

* Governors do not carry out statutory duties with safeguarding

* Evaluations of the school's safeguarding are not properly conducted to ensure students are safe

* Teaching does not meet pupil requirement

* Expectations of what children can achieve is low, causing pupils to make poor progress in reading, writing, maths and the wider curriculum

* Basic errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation are left uncorrected

* Additional funding for disadvantaged pupils is not properly used to help them progress – causing them to fall further behind in maths, reading and writing

* Leaders do not check how funding is used

* Pupils have "limited opportunities" to study subjects other than reading, writing and maths

* The headteacher does not manage or monitor teachers' performance well, causing "weak teaching" to remain across the school

* Some pupils – especially those with special educational needs or disabilities – regularly miss school

* Attendance is well below the national average and is getting worse

* Governors do not hold school leaders to account

* Plans to improve the school "lack precision and clarity"

To read the full report visit reports.ofsted.gov.uk