PARENTS have backed the staff at an Amersham nursery that was placed into special measures by Ofsted, saying the teaching there is “brilliant”.

The Henry Allen nursery was given a damning Ofsted inspection which said its overall effectiveness was “inadequate” and there were insufficient steps being taken to safeguard pupils.

But 84 per cent of parents who responded to a questionnaire from the inspecting body said the school, in Mitchell Walk, kept their child safe and 78 per cent said the teaching there was good.

Lisa Jay, the chair of the school’s PTA, said: “We are fully behind the staff. The school is fantastic and we are angry at Ofsted for putting it into special measures.

“The teaching is brilliant and we love the environment. All the parents are angry this has happened and can’t understand how in 18 months it’s gone from good to being in special measures. Nothing’s changed in 18 months.

“I had a boy there last year and his younger sibling’s there now. If they weren’t safe and learning and not happy, I wouldn’t have them there. I’ve no intention of taking my child out.”

Teacher Sarah Koumi said: “I think this is an amazing place – I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe in it. The support from the parents is phenomenal.”

The nursery has been without a permanent headteacher since the start of this school year. Ms Jay said the headmaster, Jamie Shaw, had not been contactable since the beginning of the academic year.

Parents and staff met with education bosses from Buckinghamshire County Council on Thursday to agree a deal to keep the nursery open.

The authority said an Interim Executive Board has been named, and is awaiting approval by the Secretary of State for Education. The Board aims to have Henry Allen nursery out of special measures by the end of 2012 and the council said day-to-day running of the school would continue.

The Ofsted inspection said the nursery is “failing to give its children an acceptable standard of education and the persons responsible for leading, managing or governing the school are not demonstrating the capacity to secure the necessary improvement”.

It added there had been a “breakdown in relationships between leaders and some teaching staff” and teachers were “not given sufficient guidance to help them improve”

But the report also said: “Children are well motivated in lessons and satisfactory teaching helps them to make satisfactory progress most of the time. By the time they leave the school, most children are working in line with the nationally expected levels for their age.

“Teaching staff have a good knowledge of individual children and they ensure that there is a reasonable balance between child-initiated and adult-led activities in lessons in the classrooms.

“They [teachers and nursery nurses] plan together, making satisfactory use of assessment information based on observations of children at work to identify what to teach next, especially for indoor activities. Activities chosen by children are well organised, and interest and engage them most of the time.”