Beacon Lights Schools

Inspection of Beacon Lights Schools Lister Lane, Halifax HX1 5JL

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Outstanding Personal development Outstanding Leadership and management Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Good

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Overall effectiveness Good

Does the school meet the independent school standards?

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What is it like to attend this school?

Beacon Lights Schools is a place at the heart of its community. Pupils who attend this highly effective school experience a well-rounded education, built around Islamic principles. The proprietor ensures that the school has high expectations for pupils. They have an unwavering ambition to support pupils to achieve well and be successful in their lives. This ambition is realised in the strong outcomes that pupils achieve.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Pupils are happy at this school. They are pleased to attend the school and feel settled when they are here. Pupils are kind and considerate. They are supportive of one another. All pupils conduct themselves positively and have an enthusiastic attitude to learning. This ensures that the school is calm, productive and orderly. Pupils have trusted adults that they can rely on for support if they have any worries or concerns. As a result, pupils feel safe and well supported in school.

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What is it like to attend this school?

Personal development is a notable strength of the school’s work. Through the school’s highly effective wider development offer, pupils are extremely well prepared for life in modern Britain and for their next steps in education, employment or training. Pupils learn to be confident and respectful learners with a deep insight into the world around them.

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better?

Pupils learn an ambitious curriculum. It is well designed and sequenced appropriately to build knowledge over time. As a result, pupils develop a deep body of knowledge across a range of topics and subjects. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The proprietor ensures the school reviews and refines its curriculum. As the school grows, leaders are further strengthening the curriculum to ensure that its breadth matches the national curriculum.

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better?

Staff present subject content clearly and have secure subject knowledge. They use questions to engage pupils and ensure that they take part in lessons. However, in some lessons, staff do not check pupils’ understanding as well as they should, and some staff do not consistently identify gaps in knowledge or address misconceptions. Occasionally, there is a lack of opportunity for pupils to deepen their knowledge and discuss concepts fully.

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better?

Staff develop pupils’ phonics knowledge expertly. The school has created a climate of learning, where pupils engage with phonics lessons positively. Pupils are keen to contribute to classroom activities to support their reading development. Pupils are supported well and use their phonics knowledge effectively. They accurately decode and blend new words. As a result, pupils read books and texts confidently. The school ensures pupils who have more well-developed reading skills read ambitious texts. These include high-quality, classical and contemporary authors and poets. 8 to 10 July 2025 Staff encourage pupils to think deeply about a text’s meaning to promote critical thinking.

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better?

Pupils’ behaviour and attitudes are exemplary. Their impeccable conduct supports the effective delivery of the curriculum. All pupils follow school routines faultlessly. They have high attendance and are punctual to school and lessons. Pupils are attentive in lessons. They are extremely positive about learning. Pupils engage in all learning activities fully and consistently and show high motivation to learn well. Pupils value education. They make a positive contribution to the life of the school by supporting each other’s well-being and celebrating difference. They are relentlessly polite and engage with staff and each other positively.

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better?

In both the primary and secondary areas of the school, pupils deepen their knowledge of life beyond school through an extensive range of learning and development opportunities appropriate to their age. All pupils have a wide range of experiences to develop them more broadly through timetabled lessons and extra- curricular experiences. This includes effective careers information and guidance. Pupils learn how to keep physically healthy and manage their mental health through carefully delivered lessons and learning activities. They develop computer programming skills in ‘robotics club’ and broaden their employability skills with touch-typing lessons.

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better?

The school ensures that pupils learn about different communities and faiths effectively. Pupils visit places of cultural significance to build their cultural capital. For example, pupils visit places of worship to broaden their understanding of other religions. They learn about diversity and discrimination. Pupils are accepting of differences in their communities and respect the varying views of others. Pupils present their own thought-provoking lectures to develop their understanding across a range of topics to strengthen their speaking and listening skills. For example, pupils have discussed female empowerment and male body image when considering wider issues around gender.

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better?

Staff are highly motivated. They appreciate leaders’ accessibility and the support they provide for staff to be effective in their roles. Staff feel their workload is well managed. They value professional development to improve their practice. The school identifies and meets the needs of pupils with SEND effectively. Staff are well informed to support pupils’ additional needs. They receive well-designed support plans with strategies to support pupils to access learning fully.

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better?

The proprietor is fully involved in school life and is represented on the governing body. The proprietor and governors ensure the school has clear and well-structured strategic plans. These reflect the school’s ambition of raising pupils’ aspirations through high-quality learning and wider experiences. They are underpinned by the school’s strong Islamic ethos. The proprietor demonstrates the skills and knowledge necessary to ensure that the independent school standards (the standards) are met consistently. This includes compliance with schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010. 8 to 10 July 2025

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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(Information for the school and proprietor)

 There is variability in the delivery of the curriculum in some subject areas. Sometimes, staff do not check pupils’ understanding as well as they should and do not identify gaps in knowledge or address misconceptions fully. This means that some pupils do not consistently have opportunities to build knowledge as well as they could. The school should ensure all lessons are delivered to a consistently high quality across all curriculum areas.

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How can I feed back my views?

or to 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 (DfE) has further guidance on how to complain about a school. 8 to 10 July 2025

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School details

Unique reference number 147733 DfE registration number 381/6023

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School details

Inspection number 10374864 Type of school Other Independent School

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School details

Proprietor Beacon Lights Educational Trust

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School details

Annual fees (day pupils) Primary £2,600 Secondary £3,200

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School details

Dates of previous inspection 15 to 17 March 2022 8 to 10 July 2025

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Information about this school

 This school was registered by the DfE on 2 September 2020. This is its second standard inspection.  Since the school’s last standard inspection in March 2022, there have been two additional material change inspections. On 15 June 2022, the school successfully applied to increase the age range of pupils admitted from 5 to 16 years. On 10 July 2024, the school successfully applied to increase the number of pupils admitted to 330.  The school has an Islamic ethos.  The school does not use any alternative provision.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors carried out this inspection under section 109(1) and (2) of the Education and Skills Act 2008. The purpose of the inspection is to advise the Secretary of State for Education about the school’s suitability for continued registration as an independent school.

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Information about this inspection

The school meets the independent school standards. These are the requirements set out in the schedule to the Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014.

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Information about this inspection

 Inspections are a point-in-time evaluation about the quality of a school’s education provision.  This was the second routine inspection the school received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Inspectors discussed the impact of the pandemic with leaders and have taken that into account in their evaluation of the school.  Inspectors met with the headteacher, the special educational needs coordinator, curriculum leaders, teachers and support staff.  The lead inspector spoke by telephone with the proprietor and met with the chair of the governing body.  Inspectors reviewed a range of documentation, including documents relating to standards and the curriculum.  Inspectors carried out deep dives in these subjects: early reading, English, science, geography and history. For each deep dive, inspectors held discussions about the curriculum, looked at curriculum plans, visited a sample of lessons, spoke to teachers, spoke to some pupils about their learning and looked at

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Information about this inspection

samples of pupils’ work.  An inspector listened to pupils from different year groups reading to a familiar adult.  To evaluate the effectiveness of safeguarding, inspectors: reviewed the single central record, took account of the views of leaders, staff and pupils; and 8 to 10 July 2025 considered the extent to which the school has created an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts pupils’ interests first.  Inspectors had a tour of the school site and scrutinised a wide range of documentary evidence to check the statutory requirements of the standards.  Inspectors considered the responses to Ofsted Parent View, including the free- text comments.  Inspectors spoke to a range of staff and pupils during the inspection to consider their views of the school.

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Inspection team

David Mills, lead inspector His Majesty’s Inspector

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Inspection team

Chris Carr His Majesty’s Inspector 8 to 10 July 2025 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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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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Inspection team

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