An education boss has vowed to turn around a failing school and ensure "every pupil reaches their full potential".

Simon Webb, Kent County Council’s area education officer for West Kent, was speaking after Dover Road Community Primary School in Northfleet was put into special measures – the worst possible outcome for a school apart from closure.

Ofsted inspectors found the quality of teaching was not good enough and when pupils left they weren’t "adequately prepared" for secondary school.

Mr Webb said: "There were parts of the Ofsted report which provided positive feedback for Dover Road such as on pupil safety and after-school activities.

"Naturally, the county council is disappointed that Ofsted has decided to place the school into special measures.

"We will now draw up a detailed plan in conjunction with head teacher Rebecca Smith and the governing body to improve the teaching and learning of English and mathematics, ensuring every pupil reaches their full potential.

"Dover Road Primary School was enlarged as a consequence of the Springhead quarter of the Ebbsfleet development.

"The need for a new primary school has not been met with the slowing of new housing on the site."

The assessment, carried out by five government inspectors, judged the school in Dover Road East as inadequate in both its "overall effectiveness" and "the school’s capacity for sustained improvement".

They found that pupils left the 485-strong school with low grades in English and maths and that pupils did not achieve as well as they could.

It also stated that classrooms did not have well- thought-out displays to support youngsters’ learning and that marking of pupils’ work was not consistent across the school.

It also criticised school leaders and managers for not embedding ambition and driving improvement effectively.

Girls were found to make significantly less progress than boys in English.

Ofsted also found that those in Years 1 and 2, those eligible for free school meals, with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who do not speak English as a first language made "inadequate progress".

A full report appears in the current issue of the Gravesend Messenger.