A primary school that was rated as outstanding by Ofsted in 2014 now requires improvement according to the education watchdog.

Hawkesbury Church of England Primary School was evaluated by inspectors recently and in their report, published earlier this month, they found a 'decline in standards', but also recognised the school was making significant improvements.

The school, which is situated in Hawkesbury Upton, Badminton, was found to have problems with quality of education as well as leadership and management.

Inspectors who visited the school in September, reported: “Standards in reading and mathematics have declined.

“Leaders and governors are aware of many of the reasons for this, however they have not acted quickly enough.

“Governors should ensure that leadership systems are suitably robust and that plans are suitably precise to ensure that the school offers a consistently good quality of education.”

The report also found that students' reading skills were not at the required level and that some teaching was not strong enough, especially in history.

Ofsted did point out that pupils with special educational needs/or disabilities were making good progress.

Interviews with students found that pupils enjoyed their time at school, generally behave well in class, have a good understanding of different cultures and religious beliefs.

The report also found that bullying was very rare.

Executive headteacher Mike Riches was appointed to oversee the work of both schools and Ofsted did mention improvements were being made since his appointment in late 2018.

“I’m really pleased with the progress school has made over the last 12 months," he said.

“We have a lot of committed members of staff who are committed to seeing us move forward in a positive way and I’m confident that will happen.

“The school is a positive place and we are on a positive journey moving forward in to the future.”

Mr Riches said that the Ofsted report was in line with the school’s own assessment of its strengths and weaknesses.