Charlton primary school has been put into special measures after an Ofsted inspection deemed it inadequate in every category.

The school, based in Barton Road, Dover, had a visit from two Ofsted inspectors, Joanna Toulson and Carol Vant, in October.

It was deemed inadequate in all areas, with urgent improvement required. This shows a serious slip in standards, as in March 2011, the school was rated as good.

The inspectors said: “The school has declined in key areas, such as the quality of teaching, since the previous inspection.

“Leaders have not been rigorous enough in their checking of the quality of teaching or pupils’ progress. There is no clear link between teachers’ pay and the quality of their teaching.

“Pupils make inadequate progress in reading and writing.

“This is because the teaching of phonics is weak and pupils do not practise their literacy skills enough in other subjects.”

It was also noted that the safety of the school was not up to scratch.

The report continued: “Behaviour and safety are inadequate because procedures to keep pupils safe are not good enough.

“Policies to safeguard children are not up to date.

“The site is not sufficiently secure with the gate into the school sometimes left open.”

The school itself was deemed “drab” and “uninspiring.”

The Ofsted inspectors sat in on 12 lessons, two of which were with the newly appointed head teacher, Kim Werth.

When rating the school, inspectors took into consideration the feedback from parents, guardians and staff, retrieved from an online questionnaire.

On a positive note, the inspection highlighted some strengths which were noticeable on the inspection.

It concluded: “The very recently appointed headteacher has improved the governors’ understanding of their role and has gained the confidence of the staff.

“Pupils are polite and welcoming to visitors. They say they enjoy school, especially the visits and the after-school clubs.

“Parents and carers say their children are happy at school.”

Director of education, quality and standards at Kent County Council (KCC), Sue Jones, said: “We are very disappointed at the recent Ofsted report for Charlton Church of England Primary School, which was previously judged to be a good school.

“Charlton Church of England Primary School has improved significantly since the inspection in October and as a whole school family, we are working together to move the school forward. - Kim Werth, Headteacher

“The new head teacher, who had only been in place for six weeks prior to the inspection, has begun to take the necessary action to improve the quality of teaching and pupil’s progress at the time of the inspection actions were already underway, however there was insufficient time for these to have taken effect and have an impact on the outcome.

“Since the inspection, the KCC has been providing significant support to the school and the new headteacher.

“A clear action plan has been produced which sets out the improvements to move the school forward as quickly as possible. Many actions have already been put in place. The quality of teaching is being swiftly addressed.

Headteacher, Mrs Werth, added: “The school has benefitted from the support of the Local Authority and the Diocese and we look forward to our HMI visit to confirm our progress.”

See the full report in this week's Dover Mercury, out now.