A headteacher has promised to make improvements quickly after an education watchdog said the school’s maths teaching had “serious weaknesses”.

Ofsted inspected Brookside Junior School last month and despite having some good factors, it was rated inadequate overall.

In the report published last week inspectors said the school, in Dagnam Park, Harold Hill, had weaknesses because pupils made inadequate progress in maths.

They said this was down to not all teachers having “sufficient expertise and confidence when teaching the subject”.

The report said teachers’ marking in maths did not give pupils clear guidance about how to improve their work and spur them on to higher levels.

It added that school leaders and governors did not ensure that pupil premium funding was used well enough to raise the attainment of pupils and the leadership in maths was not strong enough.

But inspectors praised the school’s “strong leadership from the headteacher, senior staff and governors [which] has brought about rapid improvements to teaching and learning in English following a drop in Year 6 test results last year”.

Inspectors were impressed with the way writing was promoted; and the behaviour of pupils, which they described as “polite and [pupils] show respect to each other and adults”.

They said pupils enjoy learning, particularly when working with others, and staff and governors make the welfare of pupils a major priority, resulting in the pupils feeling cared for and safe.

Headteacher Sue Collins said: “We are working hard to raise the level of teaching of maths at the school.

“We have a strong plan in place and we are currently working in partnership with an outstanding school in the borough. This means expert practitioners are able to share good practice with teachers and raise confidence in the delivery of the subject.

“I am confident further positive improvements will be made quickly.”