Todwick Primary School

What Ofsted said

From the inspection on 28 March 2023

Pupils feel safe and happy at Todwick Primary School. They build positive relationships with each other and show enthusiasm for learning. Leaders have created a culture where pupils respect the simple and clear expectations for behaviour. In lessons, pupils are attentive, focused and enthusiastic. They enjoy learning and show respect for their teachers and for one another. Leaders have ensured that pupils have a clear understanding of what bullying is and what it is not. Pupils talk articulately about how they recognise bullying by the acronym 'STOP' (several times on purpose). This phrase is understood by pupils across school. Leaders deal quickly with the small number of bullying incidents that do happen. Leaders prioritise pupils' personal development. They ensure that the newly introduced school values of kindness, honesty, resilience and respect are well understood by pupils. The positive relationships formed between pupils and staff are based on these values. Pupils feel confident to share any worries with adults in school, or they put them into the 'worry boxes' in class. They say that their concerns will be dealt with quickly. Leaders recognise the importance of showing pupils the diversity of the world. Teachers use a range of enrichment activities and purposeful book choices to promote pupils' understanding of other faiths and cultures. Pupils talk with enthusiasm about what they learned through visits to mosques or the Houses of Parliament.

What the school should improve

• The governing body does not have a sufficiently strong understanding of some of its statutory responsibilities. Governors do not have sufficient knowledge and understanding of their duty to challenge and support leaders within the school, especially in areas such as safeguarding. As a result, some systems and processes have not been followed well enough, and this could have led to pupils being at risk of harm. While new systems have been introduced to ensure that pupils are safe, leaders must ensure that these systems are utilised consistently and effectively and that governors fully understood their role in ensuring they are used robustly.
• While leaders have introduced a structured approach to teaching pupils to read, this is not used consistently. As a result, there are differences in the way that some elements of reading are modelled to pupils. This affects how quickly some pupils become fluent readers or catch up with their peers. Leaders should ensure that the school systems to support all pupils to become fluent readers are used consistently.
• In some subjects, leaders have not defined the important knowledge they want pupils to know. As a result, pupils do not always make links between their learning. Leaders should ensure that the most important knowledge pupils need to know and understand for each subject is clearly defined.

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