Grove Lea Primary School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents and pupils

This is an outstanding school The headteacher and senior leadership team have an exceptionally strong vision for the future of the school. This is clearly reflected in their school improvement plan. Parents spoken with during the inspection were unanimous in their praise of the school and in particular the work of senior leaders.

Comments such as 'the headteacher is always available' and 'the headteacher knows every child in the school' reflected the feelings of others well. The governing body is well informed, knowledgeable and skilled at both supporting and challenging senior leaders. Through their frequent visits and strategic overview of school finances, governors ...have played a key role in moving the school forward.

Teachers and support staff form a close team. Support staff receive effective training and this shows in their very good levels of knowledge and expertise. Training contributes directly to the excellent levels of teaching, learning and assessment seen in all areas of the school.

The school motto 'if it's to be it's up to me' is known and understood by pupils and staff. Its message, that success is in your own hands, motivates and inspires pupils to try even harder. This results in pupils making outstanding progress across the school.

The deputy headteacher works closely with staff to produce a curriculum which meets the needs of pupils in each year group. This bespoke approach heightens pupils' levels of engagement and enjoyment in learning and contributes to their excellent progress over time. Pupils spoken with said how safe they feel and how much they enjoy coming to school.

The settled and calm atmosphere in the early years unit as well as in the main school reflects this well. Some parents continue to take their children on holiday in term time. School leaders are working exceptionally hard to reduce this in a variety of ways, including the use of fines in collaboration with the local authority.

As a result, the number of sessions missed by pupils reduced by 20% last year. Governors are aware of the attendance issue and support senior leaders in their endeavours. However, they have not yet taken direct action to reduce the number of term-time absences.

Children in early years make excellent progress from low starting points. Many reach national expectations by the end of Reception. However, not enough children yet exceed expectations in the early learning goals.

Information about this school

The school meets requirements on the publication of specified information on its website. The school serves the community of Hemsworth and surrounding areas in Wakefield, West Yorkshire. Pupils are mostly from families of White British origin.

Since the last inspection, the deputy headteacher has been appointed as the headteacher. A new deputy headteacher has been appointed and the school has recruited an assistant headteacher. Several other members of staff have also been recruited.

The proportion of disadvantaged pupils supported by the pupil premium is below average for similar schools. The proportion of pupils who have special educational needs and/or disabilities is close to the average figure for similar schools. The school meets the government's current floor standards for primary schools, which are the minimum standards set for pupils' attainment and progress in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6.