WELLGATE Primary has slipped from being a good school to one requiring improvement in all areas.

The Mapplewell school, on George Street, was inspected by Ofsted last month which found improvements need to be made in the achievement of pupils; quality of teaching; behaviour and safety of pupils and leadership and management.

A report published on Tuesday said overall achievement at the school needs improving as last year standards reached by pupils at the end of year six were lower than they should have been, given their starting points.

It also says attainment in writing is lower than in maths and reading. This is because pupils have too few opportunities to write longer pieces of work or to write in a range of subjects.

Children in the Early Years Foundation Stage do not always make good progress because assessments of their attainment are 'not sufficiently accurate'.

"As a result, planned activities are not always at the right level for them and their progress slows," the report states."Teaching requires improvement. The marking of pupils' work does not always give enough guidance on how to improve and pupils are not given sufficient time to carry out improvements of their work.

"Pupils' behaviour requires improvement because in lessons, where work is not sufficiently interesting or engaging, pupils' behaviour dips."

Inspectors also found middle leaders at the school do not yet play a 'fully active part' in the leadership and management of the school.

However, pupils' progress in maths and reading is accelerating because of an improvement in the quality of teaching in the subjects.

The report also states: "The headteacher and governing body are beginning to move the school forward as seen in the recent improvement in pupils' achievement recorded in school date and observed in pupils' books."

The governing body was praised for showing a 'good level of commitment' to their duties and has developed an effective system for checking staff performance which rewards good teaching and addresses under-performance.