A FREE school is at loggerheads with Ofsted after the education watchdog plunged it into special measures, despite the school claiming inspectors were "mistaken" in their writing of a damning report.

Langley Hall Primary Academy has been rated inadequate and the report was published on Wednesday - after the school failed in a bid to get an injunction in the High Court banning its publication.

Inspectors have slammed the leadership of the school, stating evaluations of performance are "inaccurate and too generous", as well as expressing serious concerns over safeguarding processes.

The report states: "This school requires special measures because it is failing to give its pupils 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 in the school.

"Safeguarding processes do not meet statutory requirements. The single central record of staff details, which should list every adult who works within the school, does not include temporary teachers, even if they are working at the school for several weeks. The processes for carrying out police checks are not safe. There are also no arrangements in place to ensure that adults without police checks cannot work on their own with pupils.

"Leaders were not clear why current practices mean that pupils are not kept safe."

Ofsted has said the school needs to urgently review and sharpen safeguarding and recruitment processes, improve the quality of leadership and management and improve the quality of teaching and outcomes for pupils.

The school, based over two sites in Station Road and St Mary's Road, Langley, is led by executive headteacher, Sally Eaton, and opened in September 2011. It was rated good on its previous inspection in February 2013 and the school's population has more than doubled in size since then, from 341 to 728 pupils.

Sir Christopher Ball, chair of governors, told The Observer that the school will continue to fight the report.

He said: "The school contests the report which we believe is inaccurate in a number of ways. The debate about the report is not over yet.

"Our own figures show that the school is progressing exceptionally."

Sir Christopher wrote to parents on Wednesday saying how the school disagreed with the report's findings: especially over safeguarding, how attendance figures were below the national average, and pupils' reading levels.

Ofsted has been ordered by the High Court to hand over, within three weeks, its notes and information relating to the report, and a judge will determine whether or not the school should be reinspected.

Sir Christopher said in the letter: "The report contains many inaccuracies. Therefore, the governors applied for and won an unusual High Court order requiring Ofsted to hand over, within three weeks, all the notes and information on which it relied in forming its view.

"The court also agreed to our barrister’s request that an independent Ofsted trained inspector should compare Ofsted’s information and notes with the school’s information; that his report should be put before the court; and that, if he confirms the governors’ view that Ofsted got its facts wrong, the court will hear the school’s case for setting aside the report and obtaining a fresh inspection."

He added that internal and external audits found records of staff safety checks had been kept properly, and that a temporary teacher's report was missing from the index handed to inspectors, but was present in the register, and that an independent review of the school found it to be "good in all areas, outstanding in some". The independent review was carried out by education consultants, Instill Excellence, however the firm only completed this on Friday of last week.

Sir Christopher said: "You may be sure that our priority remains the good education of your children, the duty of care we have to them, to you as their parents and to our staff, and the smooth running of the school.

"As soon as the independent expert has identified those of Ofsted’s concerns that are genuine and well founded, we shall prepare and carry out an action plan to improve the school still further. That plan will be put in place as soon as the court has considered the independent expert’s report."

An Ofsted spokesperson said: "Ofsted is pleased that the court found no reason to grant an injunction to suppress the publication of the report following the recent inspection of Langley Hall Primary Academy.

"The report has been through the most rigorous quality assurance process and we stand by its conclusions.

"We are, however, happy to comply with court's request that we disclose the evidence base for this inspection. It represents clearly the position of the school at the time of the inspection.”