The failing Stoke Newington primary school where the government s education supremo, Ed Balls, sends two of his three children has been placed under special measures...

The failing Stoke Newington primary school where the government's education supremo, Ed Balls, sends two of his three children has been placed under special measures.

Government watchdog Ofsted said that Grazebrook school in Lordship Road was failing to give its pupils an acceptable standard of education - after being rated good just five years ago.

Inspectors also said that the people responsible for leading, managing and governing the school had failed to make the necessary improvements recommended by Ofsted on its last visit in 2003. Particular problem areas were the teaching of maths and science and standards of hygiene and cleanliness. Even the playground climbing frame was found to be unsafe to use.

As a result, the school will now be inspected every few months and Hackney's education authority, The Learning Trust, will have a greater role in its management.

London Fields Primary School in Westgate Street is the only other primary school in the borough to be subject to these restrictions.

Head teacher Carron Adams, who had been at Grazebrook for almost seven years, suddenly quit in March, with school governors telling parents that she had "resigned for personal reasons" as it emerged that standards at the school had plummeted.

The Learning Trust has now appointed Sian Davies as executive head teacher.

Ms Davies will continue to act as head teacher at St John and St James Primary School on Isabella Road, Homerton, and executive head at Holy Trinity Primary School on Beechwood Road, Dalston.

A spokesman from The Learning Trust said: "The trust has moved quickly to increase the school's capacity to Parents told the Gazette that the school deteriorated after Ms Adams was seconded to Princess May Primary School in Barrett's Grove, Stoke Newington in October, 2006.

She returned full time to Grazebrook in September last year.

Lesley Brown, 44, whose 12-year-old daughter, Lauren, left the school last year, said that Ms Adams had been made a scapegoat - a view shared by many other parents.

Mr Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, and his wife, Yvette Cooper, Chief Secretary of the Treasury, live in Stoke Newington.

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