Ofsted report: Poor schools blamed on weak leaders

Weak leadership has been blamed for the widening gap between schools in the eastern region and other parts of the country.

As education watchdog Ofsted launched its annual report, regional director Sean Harford said the quality of primary school education in the east was among the worst in the country and the gap was widening.

"We still see too much mediocre teaching in schools and we think that it is the result of weak leadership," he said.

In his report, the chief inspector of schools Sir Michael Wilshaw said the regional gap was like "two nations", with school children in the east have among the lowest chances in the country of attending a good or better school.

Suffolk, Norfolk and Southend in Essex are towards the bottom of a league table of 150 local authorities in England,