Lift Cottingley

Inspection of a good school: Cottingley Primary Academy Dulverton Grove, Cottingley, Leeds LS11 0HU

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Outcome

Cottingley Primary Academy continues to be a good school.

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Outcome

The principal of this school is Kelly Bentley. This school is part of Academies Enterprise Trust, which means other people in the trust also have responsibility for running the school. The trust is run by the chief executive officer, Rebecca Boomer-Clark, and overseen by a board of trustees, chaired by David Hall.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils in this school are surrounded by caring adults. The respect and care shown by adults to pupils is mirrored in how pupils treat each other. As one pupil said, ‘Teachers are kind, they speak to you nicely all the time.’ The school is highly ambitious for what they want pupils to achieve academically, but also the type of people they want them to become. Pupils speak about feeling safe. They understand the importance of being considerate and mindful of the feelings and opinions of others.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Staff make sure that pupils follow clear routines around school. Even the youngest pupils in school move calmly and purposefully around the school building. Pupils behave well and work hard. Pupils learn strategies to help them concentrate in lessons. For example, when an adult reads to the class, pupils track this in their books. Pupils are proud of their work. They speak with enthusiasm about their learning in different subjects across the curriculum.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils and staff consistently speak of the importance of school attendance. The school works closely with families, where pupil attendance is too low.

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

The school has created an ambitious curriculum for all pupils. At each stage, the knowledge and vocabulary that pupils learn is carefully mapped out. The curriculum is well designed. Pupils build up in-depth knowledge over time. For example, in geography, pupils learn about the climates in different continents. They apply this knowledge to their learning about the Amazon rainforest. The school is ambitious for pupils with special 11 and 12 June 2024

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educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The school has recently increased the amount of staff training and support around pupils with SEND. Pupils with SEND benefit from the same ambitious curriculum as their peers.

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In lessons, staff regularly check what pupils have understood. However, the school does not use this information as well as it could. Sometimes, the school does not address some pupils’ misunderstandings or take some pupils’ learning further.

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The phonics curriculum is well-defined and consistently taught. Pupils read books that match the sounds they know. In phonics lessons, staff are quick to address any letter sounds that pupils find difficult. The school promptly identifies pupils who need more help with reading. These pupils get extra support to catch up with their peers. The school ensures older pupils, who are still at the early stage of reading, get the help they need to become fluent readers. For example, pupils who are new arrivals to the country are assessed to see if they need help with phonics or becoming fluent readers. A love of reading is promoted across school. The school has thought carefully about which books pupils should have read to them and when. Pupils enjoy a range of different genres. Books are seen as important in this school.

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Leaders place a clear focus on giving pupils a wide range of experiences and opportunities beyond the curriculum. Pupils benefit from their regular personal, social health and economic lessons. Pupils learn about the similarities and differences between different groups of people in society. Pupils enjoy learning about different world faiths. Pupils understand important issues, like how to stay safe online and what makes a healthy relationship. Pupils are keen to make a difference to others in their school and beyond. For example, in response to the question, ‘Would you rather make your own dream come true or someone else’s?’, pupils all agreed that other people should come first. One pupil said, ‘I would make someone else’s dream come true because at school I have everything I need.’

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Staff feel supported with their workload and well-being. Staff speak about recent curriculum developments helping to reduce their workload and increase their effectiveness. The school understands the importance of working closely with parents. The school regularly reviews the effectiveness of its home to school communication. The trust has robust governance systems in place within the trust. Leaders at all levels have a clear picture of what the school is doing well and how it can improve. Some pupils do not attend school as well as they need to. The school has recently made improvements to its systems for identifying and supporting pupils and families where attendance is low. The impact of this work is beginning to be seen. A culture of high attendance is beginning to develop in school.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. 11 and 12 June 2024

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 The information that teachers get when they check pupils’ learning in lessons is sometimes not used as well as it could be to support all pupils’ learning. This means that some opportunities are missed to take pupils’ learning further or to identify and address misconceptions. The school should ensure that teachers use the assessment information they get in lessons from pupils to adapt tasks or activities for pupils to be as successful as possible in the curriculum.

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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 school to be good in February 2019.

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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.

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How can I feed back my views?

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, 11 and 12 June 2024

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looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 11 and 12 June 2024

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School details

School category Academy special sponsor-led

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School details

Website http://cottingleyprimaryacademy.org

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 27 and 28 February 2019, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school uses one, registered alternative provision for two pupils.  This is an above average-sized primary school.

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Information about this inspection

 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 their evaluation of the school.  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. 11 and 12 June 2024

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 The inspector carried out deep dives in these subjects: mathematics, early reading and geography. For each deep dive, the inspector held discussions about the curriculum, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at samples of pupils’ work.  The inspector evaluated responses from parents to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View. They spoke with some parents dropping their children off at school. The inspector also evaluated the responses that staff and pupils made to Ofsted’s online surveys.  The inspector spoke to members of the school’s executive team, including the regional director.

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Inspection team

Liam Colclough, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector 11 and 12 June 2024

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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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T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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