A headteacher believes the progress made by a Lowestoft-area primary school puts them in a good place to continue their 'improvement journey.'

It comes after Pakefield Primary School was rated as requires improvement following its assessment by the education watchdog Ofsted.

The school, on London Road, was judged as requires improvement overall with two good elements following a two-day inspection last November.

It was the school's first Ofsted rating since joining the Active Learning Trust in January 2015, and despite being recognised for its safeguarding and early years provision, inspectors said the overall progress rates are too low in reading and maths and teaching is inconsistent.

The report said less-able pupils are not always shown what they need to do so they can start work promptly and until recently leaders have focused too heavily on pupils' attainment, rather than the progress they are making.

Good ratings were achieved within personal development, behaviour and welfare and in the early years provision. It was also noted that the actions of the school over the past year had led to significant gains in attainment in 2017 for the Year 6 children.

Martyn Payne, headteacher at Pakefield Primary School, said: 'As a school, our priority over the past three years has been to create a learning environment where children are proud to be part of a vibrant community, feel safe and supported and grow in confidence in their learning.

'Our curriculum and enrichment programme was recognised as a strength, which provides children with a broad range of learning experiences. Due to the strong leadership at Pakefield Primary School, the learning in early years is recognised as 'good' and enables children to settle quickly and enjoy the school.

'Behaviour was noted as consistently good across the school and our children who met with the inspectors were described as excellent ambassadors for the school. 'The school has made a lot of progress since the last Ofsted inspection and we are in a good place to continue our improvement journey. We are confident that the next inspection report will reflect this progress.'

The Ofsted report said: 'Leaders, including the trust and governors, are demonstrating that they have the capacity to make improvements.'

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Gary Peile, chief executive of Active Learning Trust, said: 'Pakefield Primary School has demonstrated so much to be proud of, however we must also take account of the specific areas where the report notes a requirement to improve, which we are already aware of.

'I am delighted that Ofsted recognised that both the Trust and the school have the capacity to take Pakefield forward to achieving a great inspection result in the future.

'Robust plans, monitoring and professional development have been securely in place over the past three years to ensure the school continues to move forward. These plans take time to become fully embedded, but the school is making progress in the right direction.

'The Active Learning Trust remains clearly focused on learning, to ensure the very best outcomes for every child.'