Pupils were bored by dull lessons and teachers were disaffected at a Bradford primary school, says a Government watchdog.

Ofsted has declared Ryecroft Primary School a failing school and placed it in 'special measures', the second in Bradford so far this academic year.

The school, which serves families on the Holme Wood estate, is now receiving intensive support from Education Bradford which has placed experienced consultant head teacher Christine Harrison at the helm.

And already, she says, a major improvement has taken place.

The inspection team visited the school - which has 223 pupils - in December. They pulled no punches in their report, describing standards as "far too low".

"All pupils are under achieving, due to the poor quality of teaching, poor leadership and management, poor learning opportunities and disaffection amongst staff," the report says.

"The school lacks a sense of direction and has had difficulty recruiting and retaining teachers."

Under 'Attitudes to the School', the inspectors wrote: "Pupils are bored by dull lessons and they do not know how to learn."

Ofsted did praise some aspects of the school, saying pastoral care and emotional guidance was good; that the caretaker and cleaners did a good job and that pupils in Years 3 and 4 made good progress.

Today, Mrs Harrison said she was impatient for inspectors to return to the school because she was so confident about the strides already made.

"Staff and pupils have worked hard and we have made phenomenal progress in ten weeks," she said.

Brendan Grant, school improvement officer at Education Bradford, said: "I have noticed a different ethos there since Christmas. There is a calmer atmosphere, pupils are on task and teachers are enjoying teaching."