Governors, teachers and members of staff were having a crunch meeting today after a school was placed in special measures following an Ofsted inspection.

New man at the helm - acting headteacher John Baker

Lexden Springs School, which teaches children with learning difficulties, was branded "very ineffective" in the inspectors' report.

However, the governors and staff at the school in Halstead Road, Colchester, have vowed to turn it around and make a wide-range of improvements.

A headteacher of vast experience has been drafted in to cover at the school, whose 67 pupils are aged between three and 19, as the existing headteacher Steve Goldsmith is on leave.

John Baker, who has been in his post of acting headteacher for a week, said: "I am personally very pleased to be here at this difficult time."

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Published Tuesday, September 21, 2004

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