Harehills Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 1 April 2025

Pupils enjoy coming to school. They are safe and happy. Staff have high expectations of pupils' behaviour. Pupils respond well. They are keen to learn. At social times, pupils get on well together. They enjoy the wide-ranging activities that the school puts on at lunchtime, including music, sports and other games. Some pupils are play leaders. They help everyone to join in. There are many other leadership opportunities in the school, such as roles on the school council and as well-being ambassadors. Pupils are proud to lead. They make a valuable contribution to the life of the school. The school has recently begun a journey of improvement. It has identified some important priorities to improve the quality of education and published outcomes. However, this is still in its early stages. There is variability in how well the curriculum is designed and implemented. Pupils' experiences of the curriculum are inconsistent, which impacts on how well they learn. The school offers a programme of exciting extra-curricular opportunities, including educational visits and visitors coming into school. Pupils visit Malham Cove as part of learning about mountain formations. They handle genuine historical artefacts and learn about the Roman military from a local expert.

What the school should improve

• There is inconsistency in how well the curriculum is implemented. Too often, the focus is on what pupils are doing rather than what they are learning. This means that pupils do not learn the important knowledge that they need as well as they should. The school should ensure that teachers know what pupils should be learning, and have the knowledge and expertise to explain carefully, and check that knowledge is being understood and retained.
• The school's evaluation of the effectiveness of its curriculum design and implementation, including within core subjects, does not consistently identify areas for improvement. Where this happens, weaknesses in the school's provision are not addressed quickly. The school must ensure that it has the expertise within subject leadership to ensure that weaker aspects of provision are accurately identified and addressed.
• Sometimes, learning activities are not well matched to the needs of pupils with SEND. Where this happens, pupils with SEND do not learn as well as they should. The school must ensure that staff have the knowledge to select tasks and activities that consistently enable pupils with SEND to learn and achieve well .

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