Tuel Lane Infant School

Inspection of Tuel Lane Infant School Clay Street, Tuel Lane, Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire HX6 2ND

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The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Early years provision Good Previous inspection grade Requires improvement 10 and 11 June 2025

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What is it like to attend this school?

Nurturing relationships are at the heart of this school. Pupils are safe and happy. The school has high ambitions for all pupils’ achievement. These ambitions are generally met.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school has high expectations for pupils’ behaviour. Staff support pupils effectively to successfully meet these expectations. As a result, pupils show respect for each other and adults. Pupils behave well around the school. This includes at playtimes, where older pupils play nicely with younger ones.

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What is it like to attend this school?

The school ensures that pupils’ broader development is supported. Pupils are provided with opportunities to engage in a wide range of clubs and extra-curricular activities. This allows them to develop their talents and interests.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils take part in fundraising activities to support both school initiatives and wider charitable causes. This includes raising money for the local food collection charity. These activities nurture empathy, community awareness and a sense of social responsibility.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils learn how to stay safe online. Assemblies and themed weeks enhance this understanding. As a result, pupils have clear knowledge of how to navigate and use the internet safely.

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

Reading has been a clear priority for the school. The phonics programme is well structured and consistently taught from the beginning of Reception. Decodable books closely match pupils’ phonics knowledge. This supports pupils’ reading fluency and confidence. Staff regularly check pupils’ phonics knowledge. They use this information to address any gaps in understanding. The school promotes a strong reading culture. Carefully chosen books are shared at home and in school. Pupils talk enthusiastically about the stories they read. This engagement with books supports language development and enjoyment of reading.

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

The school has developed the curriculum so that content is carefully sequenced to build knowledge over time. This supports pupils to develop their understanding as they progress through the school. The school has created innovative ways to check what pupils know and remember. This includes teachers changing classes on a weekly basis to discuss what pupils remember. This is having a clear impact in mathematics. Pupils can talk in depth and detail about mathematical concepts and how these can be used in the wider world. However, in some subjects in the wider curriculum, the intended ambition is not yet realised. The strategies that support pupils to remember the curriculum are not fully embedded. As a result, some pupils have gaps in their knowledge.

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

Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive strong, tailored support based on an accurate identification of their needs. Skilled adults make adaptations that enable access and success across the curriculum. As a result, pupils with SEND achieve well. 10 and 11 June 2025

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Children get a positive start to their education in the early years. Staff build warm, nurturing relationships with the children. The school provides a well-structured, ambitious curriculum. Staff promote early language development successfully. They use effective questioning and model new vocabulary to extend learning. Staff know the children’s learning needs and use this understanding to design activities that support further development. Children show curiosity and engage well in these activities. As a result, children are ready to progress into Year 1.

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Pupils behave well in lessons. Classrooms are calm and purposeful. The school monitors attendance. It has incentives in place to motivate pupils to attend more often. However, these are not having enough impact, and some pupils are not attending as frequently as they should be.

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The school supports pupils’ development beyond the academic curriculum effectively. The school regularly invites visitors in to support pupils’ grasp of healthy and unhealthy relationships. This helps pupils understand how to stay safe when faced with situations such as peer pressure. Pupils demonstrate a secure understanding of fundamental British values and can articulate how these are reflected in everyday school life. This helps pupils to develop respect for others and a sense of identity and belonging in a democratic, multicultural society.

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Leadership is driven by a clear and ambitious vision for all pupils. Staff feel valued, supported and motivated to grow. Leaders regularly check the impact of their actions. They accurately identify strengths and act swiftly on areas for development.

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Governance is strong. Governors are well trained and well informed. They actively monitor the school’s progress. Governors scrutinise spending, evaluate impact and prioritise staff well-being. This is supporting the school to continue to identify ways to improve and address these areas.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and appropriate authority)

 In some foundation subjects, the strategies used to support pupils to remember the curriculum are not fully embedded. As a result, some pupils have gaps in their understanding. The school should ensure that strategies to support pupils to learn the curriculum are consistently in place so that pupils successfully build on their understanding over time.  Some pupils are not attending the school frequently enough. As a result, they are not able to access the curriculum consistently and develop their learning as effectively as 10 and 11 June 2025

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they could. The school should ensure that pupils attend more often so that they can fully benefit from the curriculum in place.

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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). 10 and 11 June 2025

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School details

Appropriate authority The governing body

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School details

Headteacher Alison Embleton (Executive Headteacher)

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 28 and 29 March 2023, under section 5 of the Education Act 2005

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Information about this school

 The school does not use 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 and/or sixth form 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.  Inspectors discussed any continued impact of the pandemic with the school and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  The inspection team met with the executive headteacher and members of the senior leadership team. 10 and 11 June 2025

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 Inspectors met with representatives of the governing body and a representative of the local authority.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in the following subjects: early reading, mathematics and geography. 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 considered the views of parents through their responses to the online survey, Ofsted Parent View. Inspectors spoke to staff and pupils during the inspection and took account of the responses to Ofsted’s online staff survey.  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.

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Inspection team

Andrew Yeomans, lead inspector Ofsted Inspector

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Inspection team

Simon Swift Ofsted Inspector 10 and 11 June 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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