Grimes Dyke Primary School

Inspection of Grimes Dyke Primary School Stanks Drive, Leeds, West Yorkshire LS14 5BY

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The quality of education Requires improvement Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Good 4 and 5 February 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Grimes Dyke Primary School is a special place where helping pupils and families to develop a sense of belonging to ‘Team GD’ is valued. Pupils are happy and safe here. Pupils are known well and cherished. This teaches pupils how to be kind to each other.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school places great importance on teaching pupils to learn and play together. It utilises the exceptional outside provision to support pupils to develop an understanding of themselves and respect for others. Wellies are an important part of the school uniform. Pupils talk with great enthusiasm about working with their friends across all age groups to make dens in the woods, dig and build in the huge sandpit or whizz around the track on the scooters and wheelies.

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What is it like to attend this school?

There are high expectations here. The school helps pupils to develop a positive attitude to learning. In lessons, pupils behave well and focus on their learning. Teachers make learning fun and interesting. However, the curriculum in some areas does not yet identify the important knowledge that the school wants pupils to know and remember. The school has started to take action to remedy this. However, some of this work is still in the early stages. Therefore, while pupils’ outcomes are improving, they are still not high enough in some areas.

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

The school has recognised that some pupils do not achieve well enough. It has taken steps to address this. It is currently reviewing how learning is organised and what important knowledge should be included in the curriculum, across a range of subjects. These improvements are needed to support teachers to design lessons that help pupils build knowledge over time. Currently, while they are ambitious for pupils and have strong subject knowledge, teachers do not have sufficient support from the curriculum to ensure learning builds progressively. This results in pupils having a varying recall of what they have learned. There are also inconsistences in how teachers check how well all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are remembering their learning. This leads to some pupils having gaps in their knowledge.

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

Reading is prioritised throughout the school. Pupils are starting to develop an enjoyment of books due to the interesting texts that they read in class. Leaders have carefully chosen texts that support pupils’ learning across a range of subjects. This inspires pupils to want to learn more, although opportunities to embed learning through this approach are not consistently implemented. This impacts on how well pupils achieve over time. Staff are well-trained and use the school’s chosen approach to teaching phonics consistently. Staff quickly identify any pupils who are finding reading difficult. However, the school does not put in place effective wider support to ensure these pupils quickly gain the knowledge and skills they need to become confident, fluent readers.

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

Staff know pupils well and accurately identify pupils’ needs. In most instances, staff adapt learning activities to ensure these match pupils’ needs, although this can be inconsistent. The school has introduced ‘The Hive’ provision to support pupils who need bespoke 4 and 5 February 2025

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learning plans. Staff working with these pupils are skilled and provide effective support. This helps pupils to learn both while in ‘The Hive’ and when they work in their mainstream classes.

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Children in the early years get off to a flying start. The curriculum is carefully designed to ensure that all aspects of the early years framework are given great focus. Children in the Nursery are well supported to share ideas and learn to play together. In Reception, staff focus on teaching children to engage with learning through careful listening and promoting physical and sensory skills. Children’s future learning benefits from this.

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The school has an accurate picture of the attendance and punctuality of pupils. Leaders recognise attendance is not high enough. They have put in place rigorous processes to follow up any absence from school and work closely with the families of children who are persistently absent. Lateness is not accepted, and pupils are reminded regularly of the school’s expectations.

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The school prioritises pupils’ personal development. It recognises that families are important and extends its support to them in many ways, including through family residential weekends away. For pupils, the school provides many varied opportunities to discover interests, such as exploring science and nature, or talents, such as roller skating. Pupils are encouraged to try out new things, work with others and be independent. Through these opportunities, pupils learn to respect others and understand equality and the importance of protected characteristics. However, pupils’ knowledge and understanding of other important areas, such as British values or different faiths and cultures, is not secure enough. This is recognised by the school and is being addressed, but this work is still in the early stages.

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The importance of belonging to ‘Team GD’ extends to the governors of the school. They are committed to and passionate about ensuring that the school improves further. Governors have a clear understanding of the school’s priorities and understand their role in holding leaders to account. Staff show the same passion and commitment to the pupils in the school. They value the support they receive to manage their workload and well- being. There is a shared drive here to ensure that pupils thrive both personally and academically.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some subjects, the school has not sufficiently identified the essential knowledge it wants pupils to know and remember. This means that teachers are not clear about the important subject knowledge they should teach. The school should ensure that all subject curriculums are more specific about the key knowledge pupils should learn and 4 and 5 February 2025

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when, so that teachers are better equipped to implement lessons that support pupils to develop greater understanding over time.  Systems to support teachers to check learning are underdeveloped in some areas. This means that teachers do not consistently check pupils’ understanding to see if they are remembering key subject knowledge, and they do not adapt learning to ensure that it matches pupils’ ability and understanding. The school should ensure that staff have the skills and knowledge of how to identify gaps in pupils’ learning and address misconceptions.

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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, looked after children (children in local authority care) and/or children who left care through adoption or another formal route). 4 and 5 February 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Co-Chairs of governing body Stuart Bailey Sandra Clynes Headteacher Louise Hill

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School details

Date of previous inspection 29 January 2020, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school has a nursery provision.  There is a breakfast club at the school.  The school currently uses one alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

The inspectors carried out this graded inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005. During a graded inspection, we grade the school for each of our key judgements (quality of education; behaviour and attitudes; personal development; and leadership and management) and for any relevant provision judgement (early years provision). Schools receiving a graded inspection from September 2024 will not be given an overall effectiveness grade.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision. 4 and 5 February 2025

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 Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  During the inspection, meetings were held with the headteacher and other senior leaders in the school. A meeting was also held with representatives from the governing body, including the co-chair. A meeting was also held with a representative from Leeds Local Authority. In these meetings, the inspector discussed the school’s journey since the last inspection.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, mathematics, history and modern foreign languages. For each deep dive, inspectors 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. Inspectors also reviewed the curriculum in some other subjects.  The inspector discussed the provision for pupils with SEND. The inspector also met with

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the designated safeguarding leaders and the school’s inclusion support team.  The inspector reviewed a range of documentation, including the school’s self-evaluation document, safeguarding information, records and policies.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, the inspectors: 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.  Parents’ views of the school were considered through their responses to Ofsted’s online questionnaire, Ofsted Parent View, including the free-text responses. The information from staff and pupil surveys was also considered.

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Inspection team

Andrea Batley, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

James Leech Ofsted Inspector 4 and 5 February 2025

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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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