A school’s rating was downgraded after a piece of paper was not filed correctly, a headteacher has said.

Graham Metcalfe, headteacher at Eastbury Farm Primary School, Northwood, highlighted the “very positive nature” of the Bishops Avenue school’s latest Ofsted report and stressed there were a high number of positive comments in the report.

The education watchdog downgraded the school’s rating to “requires improvement” after it had been classed as “outstanding” for five years.

Wendy Varney, lead inspector for Ofsted, said in her report: “Although there is no indication that pupils have been put at risk, the school’s systems for ensuring the safer recruitment of staff are not rigorous enough.”

Inspectors praised the standards and teaching at the school and said parents express "a high degree of satisfaction with the school".

But Mr Metcalfe said the problem was that a Disclosure Barring Service check had not been printed off and put in the staff member’s file.

He said: “There is always a gap between when the DBS certificate comes through and the time the candidate can start work. We had an email through to say that the appointment could proceed, but it had not been printed off and put in the employees’ file.

“It was an administrative error, not a procedural error.

“This essentially came down to two errors: one was a piece of paper which had not been filed correctly and one for a member of staff, a midday supervisor, where two character references had not been obtained before employment commenced.”

The headteacher added the midday supervisor in question was already volunteering at the school and had previously had a Disclosure and Barring Service assessment and was known to staff.

Graham Metcalfe said: “The school does routinely take up references for teachers, teaching assistants and office staff, in spite of what is implied in the list of things that the school needs to do to improve.”

“We were very pleased with the vast number of positive comments about the school, which is a reflection of the hard work which the whole school community has put in.

“The overall judgement of requires improvement does not reflect the very positive nature of the report.”

When approached for a comment, Ofsted referred the Watford Observer to the following two lines: Leaders, including governors, have not been sufficiently thorough in implementing and recording staff recruitment checks. Although there is no indication that pupils have been put at risk, the school’s systems for ensuring the safer recruitment of staff are not rigorous enough. Until pointed out by inspectors, the school’s single central register did not meet statutory requirements.

The governing body has too little knowledge of the performance management of the school’s staff and the link between performance and pay.