Athersley North Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 19 May 2026

Pupils at Athersley North Primary School enjoy being a part of this school. The values of risk taking, resilience, responsibility, reasoning and relationships are woven through many aspects of school life. As a result, pupils learn how to work positively with each other and take responsibility for their actions. Pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils, are included in all aspects of school life. The school's inclusion team carefully provides well-considered support that reduces many barriers to pupils' learning and wellbeing. This ensures that all pupils can access and enjoy learning. Historically, too many pupils have left the school without the necessary knowledge and skills they need for secondary school. However, the curriculum is broad and carefully sequenced. Staff now typically teach this well. This helps pupils to learn and develop over time. Behaviour at this school is very positive. Pupils follow the school’s behaviour policy well. They have positive relationships with staff. This allows pupils to feel nurtured and safe. They ask for help when they need it through the school’s ‘worry post box'. Bullying is not common. If any concerns arise, they are dealt with effectively. A number of pupils do not attend school as regularly as they should. This means they miss out on important learning and other opportunities that the school provides. Pupils learn from a range of experiences through the school’s personal development offer. Many pupils have leadership opportunities. For example, pupils are elected to form the ‘mini police’ and learn how to follow rules and laws. They teach other pupils about this to help them develop their understanding of why these are important. Other leadership roles promote the value of learning. For instance, ‘reading ambassadors’ speak confidently about how they use the school’s library to promote books from different authors and genres.

What the school should improve

• Leaders should ensure that gaps in pupils' key knowledge in writing and reading in key stage 2 are quickly closed by embedding the recent improvements in the teaching of these aspects of the curriculum.
• Leaders should ensure that outcomes in core subjects, particularly in reading, continue to improve and move towards national averages.
• Leaders should ensure that systems to improve attendance are embedded, so they lead to pupils attending school more regularly.
• Leaders should refine the provision in the early years, including outdoors, to ensure activity choices more precisely match learning and address gaps in pupils' knowledge.

Read the full Ofsted report (opens in a new tab)