A school has been told it still needs improvement across the board by Ofsted.

Thetford & Brandon Times: The Norman CofE Primary School has been told to improve by Ofsted. Picture: GoogleThe Norman CofE Primary School has been told to improve by Ofsted. Picture: Google (Image: Archant)

The Norman Church of England Primary School in Northwold, near Mundford, is a mixed school for pupils aged between two and 11.

An Ofsted visit, conducted on October 9 and 10, found youngsters enjoyed their school environment but education targets were not being met and teaching was inconsistent.

The school was told to make improvements by the inspectorate in June 2017. Following a year of "instability" headteacher Owen Rhodes, 45, joined the school in September this year.

He said: "The overall effectiveness of the school has been graded as three, requires improvement.

Thetford & Brandon Times: Headteacher The Norman Primary School Owen Rhodes: Pictures: Beaupre schoolHeadteacher The Norman Primary School Owen Rhodes: Pictures: Beaupre school (Image: Archant)

"This is not a failing grade, and is in line with our current school self-evaluation. The report recognises the school's hard work and recent improvements, as well as identifying areas for further development."

The report found that pupils liked going to school but in some lessons the work could be too easy or too hard. Ofsted said this was because the quality of teaching was inconsistent.

Behaviour at the school was judged to be good with Mr Rhodes introducing rules that pupils like and understand, but there were still disruptions in class.

Inspectors said pupils found it hard to learn without adult help but on the whole behaviour had improved since the last inspection.

The school has made reading a priority with "high-quality" books and children learning phonics from reception. Ofsted noted that this teaching of phonics was not consistent across different groups of youngsters meaning that some pupils do not achieve well in reading.

This has lead to pupils not reaching the expected English and maths levels in year two and year six.

Changes have been made to improve this but the report notes it is too early to see the impact made.

Mr Rhodes added: "We are fully aware of the areas identified for improvement, including carrying on with our work to develop the school curriculum, ensuring more consistency with the teaching of different subjects, continuing with the improvements made to behaviour and improving results.

"We are committed to addressing these as we continue to work to improve our school."