A primary school in a village has been rated 'inadequate' after Ofsted inspectors identified a variety of issues including "poor" learning, lack of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support and monitoring.

Cavendish Church of England Primary School, near Sudbury, was visited by inspectors from the education watchdog on April 17 and 18. 

The voluntary controlled school, which has 69 pupils aged four to 11, had been rated 'good' during its last full inspection in 2013, but in this latest visit it was found to be 'inadequate' - the lowest rating. 

Inspectors found while pupils are enthusiastic and keen, typically following instructions and enjoying visits and various clubs, many were unable to read, write or use numbers as they should at their age. 

A report published on June 24 said a small number of pupils at the school misbehaved and there was some bullying, which pupils said most adults, but not all, dealt with effectively.

Inspectors felt many parents have "lost confidence" in the school to address any issues raised.

The report states: "In the last 18 months, there has been near constant staffing and leadership change.

"Despite the efforts of individual people, there has not been an effective enough approach between the governing body, the school, the local authority, and the diocese to work collectively to address urgent weaknesses in a timely or sustained way."

While staff were described as "caring, kind and trying their best" with "positive relationships" with pupils, the report states the school is implementing a new curriculum and adults are "not well trained to deliver the different subjects being taught", leading to "poor" learning. 

When it came to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, inspectors found there are "not clear processes to identify and meet pupils’ precise needs in other areas" including speech, language and communication. 

To improve, Ofsted said leaders, governors, the local authority and the Diocese, need to work as a collective. 

They said the school needs to ensure that staff are trained to deliver reading, writing and phonics areas of the curriculum effectively and that assessments should help staff identify children who need further support. 

They found pupils with SEND are "not routinely well identified and well supported" and said they school should ensure there are "leaders with sufficient expertise" to guide staff in the provisions needed for them. 

The youngest children in Reception class were described as "getting off to a poor start" and inspectors said "sufficient staffing expertise and high-quality resources" are needed to improve their experience. 

The report added: "Leaders need to establish ways in which to monitor the impact of their work moving forwards, including in using the views of parents, pupils and staff in a meaningful way to inform their evaluation of their effectiveness." 

Sean Cornish, interim executive headteacher at the school, said: “We are understandably very disappointed with the outcome. As a school we take this extremely seriously.

"We have already taken steps to rectify the issues outlined in the Ofsted report and have worked tirelessly to do so. 

"We have increased the leadership capacity in school and had support from the local authority.

"We have already begun to see positive changes across the school from the work undertaken so far and are fully committed for this to continue into the future."

A spokesperson for Suffolk County Council said: “We continue to support the school to build on the improvements which are already underway.

"We and the school leaders share the same commitment to ensure further improvement is delivered with pace and is sustainable so that all children who attend the school receive a strong quality of education."