Worthinghead Primary School

Worthinghead Primary School

Address: Wyke Lane, Wyke, Wyke Lane, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD12 9EL Unique reference number (URN): 107246

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, pupils are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect schools for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The school has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. All legal requirements are met. Not met: The school has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders have developed a programme that effectively supports pupils' personal development. Through the personal, social and health education curriculum, pupils develop an age-appropriate understanding of important topics, such as healthy relationships. Pupils know that it is important to look after their physical and mental health. They can talk about strategies to use to support them with this, such as a balanced diet, taking regular exercise and deep breathing techniques.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders provide opportunities for pupils to carry out leadership roles and responsibilities. Junior leaders contribute to leading initiatives to improve the school. For example, they recently helped to design a new playground and purchased equipment for it.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Pupils learn about different faiths, cultures and beliefs. Through this, pupils learn the importance of treating others with respect. They recognise that it is important to know how to speak to others so that they do not inadvertently upset them or cause offence. Pupils develop an understanding of the fundamental British values. They recognise that these exist to help people to contribute positively to society.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Visitors to school, as well as residential experiences and visits to local places of cultural interest, enrich pupils’ learning experiences. They provide opportunities for pupils to try new skills and develop their interests and talents. A recently introduced initiative aimed at providing pupils with out-of-the-classroom experiences is further supporting this.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

Leaders ensure that all pupils have opportunities to participate in a range of clubs and activities in school. They regularly check that pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged, take part in what the school offers.

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Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard

The school provides effective pastoral support. This enables pupils to share their worries and concerns with staff and settle into school life well. Leaders check that the support provided is having the intended impact on pupils’ wellbeing.

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Achievement Needs attention

As a result of some weaknesses in teaching, many pupils have gaps in their knowledge. Consequently, this hinders their progress through the curriculum and means they do not achieve as highly as they could. Published outcomes from national tests over time indicate that pupils' attainment is often below the national average. Disadvantaged pupils typically attain less well than their peers.

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Achievement Needs attention

In the early years, recent changes to the curriculum are showing early signs of positive impact. However, leaders recognise that a significant proportion of children do not make sufficient progress through the curriculum from their starting points.

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Achievement Needs attention

Many pupils do not secure the basic knowledge and skills they need to be successful in the next stage of their education. Some pupils, including those who are disadvantaged or those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, do not consistently receive the support that they need to achieve well.

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Achievement Needs attention

Leaders have identified gaps in pupils' achievement and have begun implementing plans to improve. However, the work on this is in its early stages and it is too soon to evaluate its impact.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Leaders have established routines and strategies to check and challenge attendance and persistent absence. They use incentives to encourage pupils to attend as much as possible. As a result, attendance is at least in line with national averages, including for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged. Most pupils come to school regularly and on time. Leaders make adjustments to support pupils who have difficulties with attendance. This includes, for example, changing start times or making use of quieter entrances.

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Attendance and behaviour Needs attention

Leaders have not ensured that staff consistently apply and reinforce expectations for behaviour. Consequently, pupils' behaviour is variable. At social times and during the breakfast club, pupils behave well. They have positive relationships with adults and their peers and play cooperatively together. During these times, pupils report that they feel happy and safe. However, behaviour in lessons is often less positive, with low-level disruption evident in several classes. Here, some adults do not challenge poor behaviour swiftly enough. In some instances, lesson activities do not meet pupils' needs well enough, which results in off-task behaviour. Records show that incidents of bullying are rare. Pupils are confident that staff would deal with any incidents of bullying effectively.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

Leaders have high ambitions for a well-sequenced and coherent curriculum. Pupils study a broad range of curriculum subjects. Some teaching is very effective, particularly when teachers model learning clearly and check pupils' understanding. However, this is not the case in all lessons. When staff do not routinely check what pupils know and remember, lesson activities do not precisely match individual learning needs. This affects pupils' engagement with learning and sometimes leads to off-task behaviour.

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Curriculum and teaching Needs attention

The teaching of reading and mathematics lacks coherence. Some pupils' reading books do not match their stage of reading development. This means that these pupils do not have sufficient opportunity to practise the sounds that they have learned. In mathematics, teachers do not provide enough opportunities for pupils to practise applying their knowledge through reasoning and problem-solving activities. Leaders' expectations for the development of basic skills, such as pencil grip and letter formation, are not securely embedded. Consequently, pupils often make the same mistakes repeatedly because some staff do not spot them quickly enough. Teachers make adaptations to lessons for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities or other barriers to learning. Some of these adaptations are effective, but some do not support pupils well enough to be successful in lessons.

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Early years Needs attention

Children in the early years benefit from positive relationships with staff. As such, they settle well in the environment. Children enjoy accessing both indoor and outdoor learning and demonstrate independence and positive engagement when activities are well matched to their interests.

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Early years Needs attention

A suitable curriculum is in place, and leaders are working with the local authority to further refine and embed it, including a focus on basic skills. There are examples of effective practice and purposeful staff interactions. However, this practice is not yet securely embedded. There has been a recent improvement in the learning environment. Leaders have introduced additional training for staff. As a result of this, the teaching of phonics has been strengthened in early years and into key stage 1.

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Early years Needs attention

Routines and expectations for behaviour are not securely embedded. During whole-class teaching, children's engagement is variable. Adults do not consistently support children to participate well. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged. This limits the impact of teaching and hinders children's achievement.

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Early years Needs attention

Leaders have established effective safeguarding and welfare arrangements. However, systems and consistency across the early years are not sufficiently embedded to ensure that all children make sustained progress through the curriculum from their starting points.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders demonstrate a commitment to inclusion. They work well with external specialists when needed and have secured training to support staff in meeting pupils' needs. Despite this, provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who are disadvantaged is variable. Some teachers adapt learning in lessons effectively, but this is not consistently the case across all classes. Some activities are not sufficiently matched to pupils’ individual needs.

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Inclusion Needs attention

The school has established systems that effectively identify pupils’ needs. Some pupils benefit from well-considered adaptations, individualised support and positive relationships with adults. However, there is limited evidence of the impact that this additional support has on pupils' learning. Leaders cannot consistently demonstrate how provision improves outcomes for pupils with SEND. They recognise this and have begun reviewing provision as well as prioritising pupils with education, health and care plans.

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Inclusion Needs attention

Leaders ensure that they use additional funding appropriately to support pupils who are disadvantaged. These pupils are fully included in the life of the school. For example, leaders prioritise places for disadvantaged pupils within extra-curricular clubs and educational visits. This enables pupils to take part in activities in the same way as their peers.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

The school is going through a period of significant change in staffing. Some leaders are new to the school or new to leadership. However, they have approached the school with integrity, professionalism and a determination to improve outcomes for pupils.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders have a clear and accurate understanding of the school's strengths and weaknesses. They have introduced a programme of improvement across important areas of the school, such as safeguarding, pupil behaviour, the curriculum and the early years. They take appropriate action to improve identified weaknesses, but they do not routinely check that their actions are having the desired impact. Consequently, impact is not consistently evident across the school. There are pockets of notable improvement, but some staff report that the pace of change is too challenging and is impacting negatively on their workload. Some parents and carers do not feel well informed about some changes that leaders are making.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

Leaders demonstrate high expectations for all pupils. They have introduced a range of professional learning for staff to develop their expertise in areas such as the teaching of phonics. This is having a positive impact. They are taking the right steps to improve provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities or other barriers to learning and wellbeing. However, more work is needed to ensure that this provision fully meets pupils' individual needs and supports them to achieve well.

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Leadership and governance Needs attention

As a result of targeted support, governors are beginning to provide appropriate oversight and challenge. They understand their statutory roles and responsibilities.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

Pupils at Worthinghead Primary School feel happy and safe. Most children attend regularly and enjoy being at school. During breaktimes, they play alongside one another happily. Bullying is rare and not tolerated. Pupils learn strategies to help them deal with unkind behaviour. They are confident that staff will help them to resolve conflict where necessary. Pupils enjoy taking on leadership responsibilities. These help them to develop their self- confidence. Opportunities for leadership include being ambassadors and showing new parents around the school. Pupils have a good understanding of how to keep safe, including when they are online. They understand what it means to be a good citizen and how they can positively contribute to their community. Pupils enjoy collecting points for positive behaviour, then swapping them for meaningful experiences. There is a wide range of clubs for pupils to participate in.

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

There is variability in the quality of the curriculum and the teaching that pupils receive. This means that pupils do not learn or achieve as well as they could. Teachers do not consistently check on what pupils know and remember. Consequently, some teachers sometimes move learning on before pupils are ready. Some pupils do not secure the knowledge that they need to prepare them well for the next stage in their education. This includes pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who are disadvantaged. At times, activities in lessons do not match pupils’ needs well enough, and so they become disengaged. This causes disruption in lessons and low-level behaviour concerns. In the early years, adults' expectations for behaviour and learning are inconsistent. This means that children do not make as much progress through the curriculum as they could. The school has a new leadership team. They have identified

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What it's like to be a pupil at this school

appropriate actions for improvement. However, it is too early to assess the impact of their work.

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure that all pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities or other barriers to learning receive the support they need to help them access lessons successfully. Leaders should ensure that staff teach the curriculum to a consistently high standard across the school so that all pupils achieve well. Leaders should ensure that all staff consistently apply and reinforce the school's expectations for behaviour to reduce low-level disruption in lessons. Leaders should ensure that staff use assessment effectively to check what pupils know and remember and to design lesson activities that meet pupils' needs. Leaders should continue to ensure that they support staff in the early years to consistently promote language and learning through high-quality interactions and activities. Leaders, including those responsible for governance, should continue to check that the actions they take have the intended impact on pupils' learning and development.

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About this inspection

The chair of the board of governors in this school is Derek Hatton.

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About this inspection

Inspectors carried out this full inspection under section 5 of the Education Act 2005.

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About this inspection

Following our renewed inspection framework, all inspections are now led by His Majesty’s Inspectors (HMIs) or by Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) who have previously served as HMIs.

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About this inspection

Inspectors spoke with the headteacher and other senior leaders during the inspection. They also met with members of the governing board. Inspectors spoke with some pupils, staff, parents and carers.

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About this inspection

The inspectors confirmed the following information about the school:

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About this inspection

The school currently uses no alternative provision.

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Lead inspector:

Lorraine Bamforth, His Majesty's Inspector

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Team inspectors:

Matthew Harrington, His Majesty's Inspector Karen Smith, Ofsted Inspector

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Facts and figures used on inspection

This was the data available at the time of the full inspection, taken from different sources . More recent data may have been published since the full inspection took place.

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Facts and figures used on inspection

The inspector(s) used this data during the full inspection on 9 June 2026

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What does this mean?

The total number of pupils currently at this school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The school has undergone a significant change since the last inspection. This includes the appointment of a new headteacher, deputy headteacher and special educational needs coordinator. There is also a new chair of the governing body and other governing board members.

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What does this mean?

Headteacher: Henry Naylor The total number of pupils who can attend the school and how this compares to other schools of this phase in England.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils eligible for free school meals at any point in the last 6 years.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with an education, health and care plan. This covers pupils with more support than is available through special educational needs support.

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What does this mean?

The proportion of pupils with reported special educational needs support at the school.

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What does this mean?

Based on the English indices of deprivation (2019) and the school's location, we have calculated whether the school is located in a more or less deprived area.

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What does this mean?

Whether school has Resourced provision or SEND unit (if applicable).

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standards in a combined reading, writing and mathematics measure.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2023/24 (final) 70% 74% Close to average

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing.

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Pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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average

2022/23 (final) 69% 73% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading.

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average

2023/24 (final) 64% 62% Close to average

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics.

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Disadvantaged pupils' performance gap

Disadvantaged pupils are those who have been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years and children looked after. The school disadvantage gap is the difference between the performance of the school's disadvantaged pupils compared to the performance of all non-disadvantaged pupils nationally.

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mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and mathematics, including the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in reading

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in reading and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in teacher-assessed writing

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in teacher- assessed writing and the disadvantaged gap.

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Disadvantaged pupils reaching the expected standard in mathematics

The percentage of disadvantaged pupils meeting the expected standard in mathematics and the disadvantaged gap.

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Overall absence

The percentage of all possible mornings and afternoons missed due to absence from school (for whatever reason, whether authorised or unauthorised) across all pupils.

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national average

2024/25 (3 term) 4.7% 5.2% Close to average

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national average

2023/24 (3 term) 4.9% 5.5% Close to average

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Persistent absence

The percentage of pupils missing 10% or more of their possible mornings and afternoons.

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national average

2024/25 (3 term) 12.0% 13.0% Close to average

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other schools can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The school reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The school is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The school needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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