The headteacher of a small primary school which 'requires improvement' said she was not despondent and that the school was 'heading in the right direction'.

Bacton Primary School, on Walcott Road, was inspected by Nick Butt from Ofsted on May 9 and 10 and three out of four areas required improvement.

The only area judged as good was the behaviour and safety of pupils.

Headteacher Sandra Humphreys said: 'The report wasn't a surprise to us.

'We knew the school was in a state of change. We have got many good features and we are making good progress.'

The primary school, which only has 52 pupils, was previously a first school until September 2011.

When inspected by Ofsted in September 2010 the school was rated as good.

Mrs Humphreys, who has led the school for 10 years, said: 'There are increasing demands for going forward from a good first school to a good primary school, but Ofsted bases its judgment on the current situation rather than the future.

'We are convinced the school will become a good primary school but it takes a while to go through that process.'

The school currently has two classrooms which teach children aged between four and 10 from Bacton and Walcott.

By September it will have an extra class.

Points raised by lead inspector Mr Butt into why the school required improvement included:

? Not all pupils have made the progress they could, especially in writing.

? Pupils do not always write at length if they are not inspired by the writing tasks.

? Teaching has not been good over time, because of inconsistencies in past provision.

? Pupils do not have enough time to find things out for themselves, especially through using information and communication technology.

? The checking of teaching and learning is not systematic or rigorous enough.

Mrs Humphreys, who said the parents, staff and governors were 'extremely supportive' of the school, said she would tackle these problems.

A follow up inspection will be made by Ofsted within a year and a full inspection will be carried out over the next two years.

Mr Butt said the teaching was mainly good and a greater proportion of year five children were making more progress than expected in maths, writing and reading.