Great Harwood St Bartholomew's Parish Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 19 September 2023

Great Harwood St Bartholomew's is a friendly and welcoming place to be. Pupils are happy and well cared for at this school. They feel safe. They are confident that staff will listen to them if they have any worries. The school's values of courage, friendship, service, forgiveness, justice and love are embedded throughout the curriculum and underpin the positive relationships between all in the school. Pupils are well-mannered. They extend a warm welcome to visitors. Pupils behave well in lessons and at playtimes. They are respectful to one another. Pupils enjoy the rewards that they receive for behaving well and working hard. Most pupils, including children in early years and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), achieve well. This is because the school has high expectations of their learning. Pupils try their best to live up to these expectations. The school supports pupils to achieve their personal best. Pupils value the range of opportunities on offer beyond the academic curriculum. They spoke excitedly about activities such as visits to a football stadium, outdoor learning and trips to museums, caverns and places of worship.

What the school should improve

• In a small number of subjects, the school has not given sufficient thought to the essential knowledge that pupils must learn and in what order this should be taught. Some pupils do not achieve as well as they could in these subjects. The school should finalise its curriculum thinking so that teachers know exactly what pupils must learn and when this should be taught.
• Occasionally, teachers do not use the assessment information that they gather as effectively as they could to address misconceptions and gaps in pupils' knowledge. This hampers some pupils from achieving as highly as they could. The school should ensure that teachers use assessment information consistently, so that all pupils get the most out of their learning across the curriculum.
• A small number of pupils at an early stage of reading are not supported to catch up in phonics as well as they could be. This hinders how well some of these pupils develop reading fluency. The school should ensure that pupils who have gaps in their reading knowledge are supported to catch up with their peers as quickly as possible.

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