THE head teacher parachuted in to help a Hampshire school in special measures insists work is already under way to turn it around and restore its damaged reputation.

Ofsted inspectors condemned Romsey Abbey Primary as “inadequate” last December, saying leadership and management, teacher and pupil performance, the curriculum, monitoring, IT provision and governance all needed urgent improvement.

That was despite 89 per cent of parents declaring they were happy with the school.

Hampshire county education chiefs have drafted in Nursling Primary School’s Lorina Smith to take over the running of Romsey Abbey until July, after former head Jane Everard left.

She believes, despite the inspectors’ findings, there is a solid basis to build on to make fast improvements at the 207-pupil school.

Mrs Smith said: “There is a lot to be done and I want to prioritise what needs doing.

“I believe the school can move forward rapidly and I am doing it with the help of Romsey School. But I don’t wont to lose what’s good about Romsey Abbey Primary School.

“We want to move forward and involve the parents more to improve communications between them and the school. We already have what effectively is a parents’ council and we want to build on that.”