Senior leaders at a Lowestoft primary school have said they are 'absolutely committed' to moving forward and continuing to make further improvements.

It comes after Grove Primary, in Carlton Colville, was rated as inadequate following its assessment by the education watchdog Ofsted.

After disputing 'many elements' of the Ofsted report and the way in which the inspection was conducted, publication of the final report was delayed until this month after academy sponsor the Active Learning Trust, the school's governing body and the senior leadership team at Grove challenged the findings. A letter of complaint has also been sent to Ofsted, and this is being investigated.

With the overall effectiveness of the school in Framfield Road judged by inspectors as inadequate, the report states effectiveness of leadership and management is inadequate; quality of teaching, learning and assessment requires improvement; personal development, behaviour and welfare is good; outcomes for pupils requires improvement while early years provision is good.

After a two-day inspection in March, Pauline MacMillan, lead inspector said: 'Leaders and governors have not demonstrated the capacity to improve the school.'

The report added that among the strengths at the school, behaviour was 'good' and 'pupils show positive attitudes' to learning. It adds: 'Parents are very pleased that their children are well looked after at school.'

Amanda Ward, headteacher at Grove, said: 'Although there are many elements of the report that we dispute, there are also elements that we accept. We have already made significant changes in response to the report and are absolutely committed to continuing these improvements. This includes building on those areas that we were pleased to see rated as 'good' by inspectors, including Early Years Provision.'

Mrs Ward added: 'I am very much looking forward to leading Grove Primary and working with the wider community in order for the school to gain the recognition that it deserves.'

An Ofsted spokesman said: 'We can confirm that we have received a complaint letter from the trust about their inspection. The decision to judge a school inadequate is never made lightly. We are investigating the issues raised and will respond to the school in due course.'

Reaction

A post Ofsted meeting was held for parents at the school two weeks ago.

Amanda Ward, headteacher at Grove, said: 'Thank you so much for all the parents who attended the post Ofsted meeting. It was great to see so many of you and that we had the opportunity to answer your questions. It was so important for us to be able to share with you our experiences and how Grove is moving forwards.'

Speaking about the Ofsted report David Hilton, ALT's Director of School Improvement, added: 'This report is not a true reflection. Grove is a great school and we fully support the governors and senior leadership team.'

Stephen Jay, chairman of Governors, said: 'The report is not a true reflection of the Grove we know as parents or governors and it is not reflective of what we see at the school every day. Grove is a great school and we had high quality results last year.'