Every parent surveyed said they would recommend it to others but Ofsted decided a Fenland primary school is not up to standard.

It has dropped the ‘good’ rating at Kinderley Primary School at Tydd St Giles from when they last inspected six years ago to ‘requires improvement’ this year.

Kinderley has 87 pupils on its roll and is considered a smaller than average primary school.

In December 2020 the governing body was dissolved temporarily and an interim executive board has been in place since.

On the plus side Ofsted says “pupils are kind and care for each other.

“Their parents agree, stating that their children are happy and valued as individuals.”

But Ofsted says that while pupils enjoy learning about such subjects as science and geography “the way that these are planned does not help them to learn more and remember more over time.

“Pupils are sometimes not enthused to concentrate and engage in learning”.

Ofsted says that in recent years the school has had several headteachers and an almost complete change of staff.

“The lack of stability caused a decline in standards,” it concludes.

It hopes the appointment of a permanent head and a full staff team will help but “establishing a good quality of education is at an early stage.

“In subjects other than English and mathematics, there is a planned curriculum but it is lacking in detail.

“Teachers do not have enough guidance on what core content they should be teaching in each subject each term”.

Inspectors says absenteeism is a challenge.

“Pupils do not always attend school enough,” says their report.

“Leaders are working closely with families and attendance for many has improved.

“Staff all share leaders’ clear vision to make sure the pupils succeed.

“They understand that further changes are needed and are positive about this.”

Ofsted wants improvements and says the curriculum in subjects beyond English and mathematics is not planned out in enough detail to ensure that teachers are clear on what they need to teach and when.

“The nursery curriculum does not make clear how it links to the main school curriculum,” it says.

“As a result, pupils do not have the opportunity to build new learning on what has come before.”

And senior teachers have been advised to be “confident in leading their subjects, in coordinating the development of a more appropriate curriculum and in supporting colleagues to choose good-quality learning activities”.