Primary school in Calderdale praised as "warm and nurturing" in latest Ofsted report
Elland Junior, Infant and Nursery School has been praised as a warm and nurturing school but told it needs to do more to prepare some pupils for the next stage of their education.
The school has been told in its latest Ofsted report that it requires improvement in the quality of education and leadership and management, but that it is rated good in behaviour and attitudes, personal development and early years provision.
Inspectors say the school "places pupils’ needs at the heart of all its work" and that pupils are happy and safe there.
The report praises the school's ambition that every pupil should achieve well, and says that there are high expectations of pupils, but "a significant number of pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are not academically prepared for secondary school".
Students' sensible and orderly behaviour througout the school is commended in the report, and they are "very well prepared to be active and positive members of society", exhibiting strong values of tolerance and inclusivity as well as a good understanding of the world around them.
Inspectors say the school is "responding with increasing purpose" to weak outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics at key stage 2 in recent years, and that improvements to the curriculum, such as a revised approach to the teaching of writing, are beginning to have a positive impact.
However, these improvements are not consistently embedded, inspectors say, with older pupils not achieving the same results.
That disparity is also present in the provision of reading, says the report.
The school's SEND provision is praised, which ensures that those pupils achieve well and get the support they need.
Children in the school's early years classes get off to a strong start in their education, the report says, and the school is praised for its "relentless" efforts to continue to ensure pupils have high attendance.
Pupils are highly motivated and keen to contribute, inspectors say, and are motivated to receive rewards for positive attitudes and behaviour.
Staff enjoy working at the school, according to the report, and feel valued and cared for.
But inspectors say that on occasions, governors’ oversight of academic performance has not been as sharply focused as it could be, and that outcomes for pupils are not improving quickly enough, particularly those that are disadvantaged.
The report recommends that those responsible for governance should ensure that the school improvement strategy is more clearly defined, more tightly monitored and driven with greater urgency towards improving outcomes for all groups of pupils.
The school has been contacted for a comment.