A PRIMARY school in Darlington requires improvement after Ofsted inspectors found incidents of poor behaviour had increased since the start of the pandemic.

Skerne Park Academy in Darlington was told to improve following an Ofsted inspection in February which was published on April 1.

The academy, however, remains 'good' in both personal development and in early years provisions.

Inspectors who visited the school over two days in February, found that pupils had been experiencing difficulties with mental health and bad behaviour.

Covid-related staff absences had also caused disruptions as the report highlights “leaders and governors are determined to help pupils set at the school.”

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It is thought that online classes from home during the height of the pandemic may be a contributing factor in increased incidents of poor behaviour.

The majority of staff members were found to mange low-level incidents of bad behaviour well, however, senior leaders “often need to intervene to resolved more serious incidents.”

Naturally, this has a knock-on effect and impacts the wellbeing of staff.

The report showed that leaders are aware that behaviour needs to improve and a strategy is in place to review the academy’s policy and procedures.

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The academy was last told it "requires improvement" in 2018, although it was made clear in the report that it was a “caring school.”

The report outlined how the youngest children make a good start in the early-years learning and said: “They get into good routines and thrive in the well-organised provision.”

It was also outlined that often teachers do not ensure pupils have thoroughly understood material before moving onto a new topic.

The report said: “Leaders do not check the quality of education effectively. For example, they assume that pupils understand content because of work recorded in books. This is not the case.

"As a result, leaders are not aware of some of the weaknesses in teaching that affect how well pupils learn curriculum content.”

Since the previous inspection, senior leaders of the academy, which is part of the Hummersknott Academy Trust, have trained teachers as subject leaders and they have, together, reviewed the school curriculum.

This has identified what pupils should learn in each subject and in each year group.

Skerne Park Academy is part of the Hummersknott Academy Trust. The trust’s Executive Principal, James Keating, said: “It has clearly been a very challenging time for all schools but we welcome the positive comments in the Ofsted report that recognise the good work being carried out for pupils at Skerne Park Primary. The leadership team has put strategies in place to deal with the areas identified as requiring improvement and we look forward to the continued development of the school.”

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