Batley Grammar School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 26 November 2024

Batley Grammar School is a calm and welcoming environment. Its values of 'respect, community, resilience' are understood and shared across the school. This is apparent from the polite way the youngest children speak to each other, to the pride of older pupils in being part of the combined cadet force. In lessons, pupils concentrate and work hard. Behaviour systems have recently been strengthened. This is helping to ensure that relationships between teachers and pupils are positive. Pupils in all years are confident that they will get help if they are worried about something. School council members at primary and secondary work together with adults to ensure pupils have a voice in the development of the school. Pupils take great pride in the history and tradition of the school and its buildings. In all year groups, teachers receive clear information about pupils. They use this to ensure that in lessons, pupils are supported to do well and achieve their best. For example, in the secondary phase, the development of the 'personalised learning centre' and the 'hub' mean that pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) get the help they need to enjoy school and access a broad curriculum to prepare them for the future.

What the school should improve

• In some subjects in the curriculum, component knowledge is not precisely identified. This means pupils cannot build a more sophisticated body of knowledge over time. Leaders should ensure that the important knowledge and skills pupils should learn are set out clearly in line with best practice in the school.
• In early years, some activities are not precise enough in their design to ensure pupils are taught appropriate knowledge to prepare them for key stage 1. This means children are occasionally not as well prepared for key stage 1 as they could be. Leaders should ensure they design precise curriculum activities to support the learning of the most important knowledge for pupils.
• The connection between leadership of primary and secondary phases does not consistently ensure oversight of important aspects of school provision. This includes, but is not limited to, personal development. This means there are differences in the quality of experience for pupils at primary and secondary. Leaders should ensure that they design and implement systems for strategic oversight and collaboration at all levels of school provision.

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