Bristol's proud record of having no schools rated inadequate by the learning watchdog Ofsted has been dashed.

Inspectors have judged Holymead Junior School in Brislington to be in need of significant improvement.

But the team who visited just before the summer holidays stopped short of putting the school into special measures and instead issued a notice to improve.

This means the school, which has about 300 pupils aged seven to 11, has a year to sort things out.

And a good start has been made with the appointment for 12 months of head teacher George Long, who in the past few years has helped many primary sector schools in the city to move on after troubled times.

Mr Long, who took up his post at the start of term in September, said he was very confident of swift improvement at the school in Wick Road.

"Already there is a change of attitude and emphasis," he said. "Staff morale is very high and the support and interest from parents is fantastic. We are already seeing some good outcomes in the children's learning."

Mr Long said the priority was to ensure pupils made better progress in writing and maths, the two key areas identified in the report.

He said the school's development plan built on the action taken during the summer terms by the two interim head teachers and the city council.

Ofsted found that the school had undergone a great deal of change during the 2008-09 academic year, with head teacher Debbie Quinn leaving in April, staff absences and changes in the governing body.

The inspectors noted that data from national tests over three years showed that pupils had made unsatisfactory progress during their time at the school.

They said there had been pockets of improvement since the acting heads took over but progress and overall achievement were still inadequate.

The report said behaviour at the school had got better in recent months and the number of children excluded had fallen dramatically.

"It is clear teachers are working hard to develop their teaching… pupils work dutifully but lack enthusiasm, and teachers do not focus sufficiently on what pupils will learn, rather than do, in lessons," Ofsted reported.

To improve further, inspectors said, the school should develop the role of subject leaders, raise the quality of teaching, mark work in a way that helps children understand how to improve and give parents more of a voice.

The Ofsted team did praise highly the number of pupils who played musical instruments and sang in the school choir. The last school in Bristol to come out of special measures was Ilminster Avenue Primary in Knowle West in November last year.