Lepton CofE Primary Academy

Lepton CofE Primary Academy Station Road, Lepton, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire HD8 0DE

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Inspection dates: 26 and 27 September 2023

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Outcome

Lepton CofE Primary Academy continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The executive headteacher of this school is Thomas Burns, who is also the executive headteacher of Highburton CofE First Academy. Both schools are part of Enhance Academy Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Mark Randall, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by Peter Townley.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils enjoy attending Lepton CofE Primary Academy. They are happy and safe. Pupils have a thirst for knowledge and information. They are resilient, hardworking and determined to succeed. Pupils form strong relationships with staff and each other. Pupils know that staff will listen to their concerns and help them if they are worried.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils have a strong sense of social justice. They raise funds for many different worthy causes, including a local hospice. Pupils are active citizens who care about their community. For example, members of the gardening club recently helped to tidy up and landscape the gardens in a local residential area.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff have high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and conduct. They expect pupils to learn well. Pupils respond well to these expectations. This helps to ensure that the school is a calm and purposeful environment where pupils achieve highly.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school provides opportunities for pupils to develop their talents in many different ways. This includes through different leadership responsibilities and sports and music activities. Pupils enjoy singing in the school choir and mastering their acting skills in different school drama productions. They enjoy learning about Huddersfield as part of their learning about Victorian England and coal mining.

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What does the school do well and what does it need to do better?

The school provides a broad and varied curriculum. This engages pupils’ interests and helps them to develop their knowledge and skills in different subjects. Staff make sure that pupils become confident mathematicians and informed readers. Staff help pupils to 26 and 27 September 2023

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develop a strong curiosity about the world around them and the different people who live in it.

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The school, including the trust, ensures that staff have the training they need to deliver a coherent and logically ordered curriculum well. The school’s effective work ensures that pupils are well prepared for their learning in high school and beyond.

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The school regularly checks how well pupils are learning. This helps them to identify where pupils are learning effectively, as well as where pupils’ learning is less secure. This means that the school can confidently deliver new learning that builds on what pupils already know. However, in some areas of the curriculum, the school does not ensure that pupils have the strong knowledge that they need before moving on to new areas of learning.

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The school prioritises reading. Staff have created a strong reading culture across the school. Children in Reception take delight in learning new stories and rhymes. Older pupils enjoy different writing styles and genres, including science fiction and comedy. Pupils also enjoy factual books. They have a strong appreciation of poetry.

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Children in Reception and key stage 1 benefit from an effective early reading curriculum. Children look forward to their daily phonics sessions, which begin soon after they start in Reception. Pupils in key stage 1 develop strong comprehension skills. Skilled staff provide effective support for pupils who find reading difficult. As a result, pupils develop their reading fluency quickly.

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The curriculum is ambitious for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school identifies pupils’ individual needs soon after they start at the school. Staff work with external specialists and parent and carers to make sure that pupils get the support they need promptly. All staff have a precise understanding of how to adapt the curriculum. This means that pupils with SEND can access the same curriculum as their peers.

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Pupils conduct themselves well. They like to share their ideas and discuss their views in class. Children in Reception enjoy learning and socialising with their friends. Pupils’ positive attitudes to learning help the school to be a harmonious and purposeful place for learning.

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The school promotes pupils’ personal and social development well. Pupils thrive in the different leadership roles available to them. These include reading and journalism buddies, mentors and well-being warriors. They participate in different after-school clubs regularly, including monkey sports, art, football and cricket clubs. Pupils have a strong appreciation of the fundamental British values, including the rule of law. They often celebrate different cultural and religious events. Pupils know how to keep themselves fit and healthy. They learn how to maintain their physical and mental well-being. Pupils also learn about safe and appropriate personal relationships through different aspects of the curriculum. 26 and 27 September 2023

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The school engages effectively with parents and the local community. Parents who spoke with the inspector said that they are ‘delighted’ with their children’s academic and social development. They enjoy reading to pupils in school and finding out about their children’s learning.

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Governors and trustees perform their duties diligently. They collaborate closely with leaders to ensure that staff have the training they need to deliver the curriculum consistently well. Staff told the inspector that they have the freedom to tailor the curriculum to suit pupils’ needs. They said that the school is mindful of their mental health and workload.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In a small number of subjects, the school does not ensure that pupils’ knowledge and skills are sufficiently well developed. This means that some pupils do not have the understanding they need to be ready for new areas of learning. The school should make sure that staff have the training and support necessary to identify and address any gaps in pupils’ learning.

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Background

When we have judged a school to be good, we will then normally go into the school about once every four years to confirm that the school remains good. This is called an ungraded inspection, and it is carried out under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. We do not give graded judgements on an ungraded inspection. However, if we find evidence that a school would now receive a higher or lower grade, then the next inspection will be a graded inspection, which is carried out under section 5 of the Act. Usually this is within one to two years of the date of the ungraded inspection. If we have serious concerns about safeguarding, behaviour or the quality of education, we will deem the ungraded inspection a graded inspection immediately.

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Background

This is the first ungraded inspection since we judged the predecessor school, Lepton CofE Voluntary Controlled Junior and Primary School, to be good in December 2015.

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How can I feed back my views?

find out what other parents and carers think. We use information from Ofsted Parent View when deciding which schools to inspect, when to inspect them and as part of their inspection. 26 and 27 September 2023

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The Department for Education has further guidance on how to complain about a school.

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Further information

You can search for published performance information about the school.

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Further information

In the report, ‘disadvantaged pupils’ is used to mean pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND); pupils who meet the definition of children in need of help and protection ; pupils receiving statutory local authority support from a social worker; and pupils who otherwise meet the criteria used for deciding the school’s pupil premium funding (this includes pupils claiming free school meals at any point in the last six years, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 26 and 27 September 2023

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School details

Date of previous inspection Not previously inspected

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Information about this school

 Lepton CofE Primary Academy converted to become an academy school as part of the Enhance Academy Trust in February 2020. When its predecessor school, Lepton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Junior, Infant and Nursery School, was last inspected by Ofsted, it was judged to be good overall.  The school does not make use of alternative provision.  The executive headteacher and head of school were appointed this academic year.  The school is a voluntary-controlled Church of England academy. The last section 48 inspection was conducted by the Diocese of Leeds in February 2018. The school’s next section 48 inspection is planned for the next academic year.

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Information about this inspection

The inspector carried out this ungraded inspection under section 8 of the Education Act 2005. 26 and 27 September 2023

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 Inspections are a point-in-time judgement about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the first routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the school and has taken that into account in his evaluation of the school.  The inspector held meetings with the executive headteacher, the head of school and the assistant headteacher. He also held meetings with other staff, including those responsible for SEND, attendance and pupils’ behaviour, welfare and personal development.  The inspector met with members of the governing body. He also met with the chief executive officer of the trust and other trust members. The inspector held telephone conversations with a representative from the local authority and a representative from the Diocese of Leeds.  The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, and

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history. For each deep dive, he discussed the curriculum with subject leaders, visited a sample of lessons, spoke with teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work. The inspector listened to pupils read.  The inspector met with pupils to discuss their learning in some other subjects. He spoke with staff about their workload and well-being.  The inspector met with parents and reviewed the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text comments. He took account of responses to Ofsted’s staff survey. There were no responses to Ofsted’s pupil survey.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspector: reviewed the single central record; took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.

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Inspection team

Lenford White, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector 26 and 27 September 2023

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regulates and inspects to achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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