Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School

Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School is performing well overall. Safeguarding standards are met, and the school is strong in attendance and behaviour, inclusion, and personal development and wellbeing. Pupils feel safe, attend well above national averages, behave positively, and are well supported regardless of disadvantage or special educational needs and/or disabilities. The school provides a rich, inclusive personal development programme and strong pastoral care, with disadvantaged pupils and the most vulnerable achieving particularly well. Achievement, curriculum and teaching, and leadership and governance are all at the expected standard. Pupils attain and progress well in reading, writing and mathematics, and Year 6 outcomes in reading and writing are consistently above national averages. The curriculum is well designed and generally implemented well, and recent work to strengthen mathematics fluency and handwriting is underway. However, there is some variability in the quality of work pupils present across the curriculum, particularly in handwriting beyond English, and mathematics fluency work is still being embedded. The early years requires attention. Staff interactions with children vary in quality, and at times not all children are engaged in purposeful learning, which means some do not receive the support they need to develop important knowledge, skills and vocabulary. Safeguarding records also do not always clearly capture the actions taken to promote pupils' welfare. The school is a Church of England voluntary aided school in the Diocese of Leeds, with a well-above-average proportion of pupils receiving special educational needs support. Next steps focus on early years staff expertise, embedding mathematics and handwriting strategies, and improving safeguarding records.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture where concerns are actively identified and managed.
• Attendance remains above national average, and leaders track absence diligently.
• Pupils behave well in a calm and welcoming school, with unwanted behaviour rare and addressed immediately.
• Bullying is not tolerated and staff deal with any incidents quickly.
• Inclusion is a strong feature, with effective systems to identify and address barriers to learning.
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND are supported well and often outperform their peers.
• The personal development programme is very well considered and helps pupils flourish.
• Pastoral support for mental health and wellbeing is highly effective.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of enrichment opportunities, including visits, sports and community links.
• Pupils develop respect, tolerance and an understanding of British values.
• Reading and writing outcomes at the end of Year 6 are consistently above national averages.
• The curriculum is well designed and generally implemented well, with pupils remembering important content.
• Governance is secure, and governors hold leaders to account for the impact of their actions.
• Staff are highly positive about working at the school and feel valued and well supported.

Areas for Improvement

• Early years staff interactions vary in quality, so some children miss purposeful dialogue and vocabulary development.
• Time in the early years is sometimes not used well enough to keep all children engaged in purposeful learning.
• Handwriting expectations are not consistently high enough in subjects beyond English.
• Some pupils do not write as fluently and accurately across the full curriculum as they could.
• Recently introduced strategies to secure foundational knowledge in mathematics are still being embedded.
• Safeguarding records do not always clearly record the actions the school takes to promote pupils' welfare.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School attended 96.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 6.9% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 0.0% of pupils at Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School had 22.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 26.9% of pupils at Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.0% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School received £7,093 and spent £6,920 for each of its 201 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £61,000 (£301 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

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What is Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School is Needs attention, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School last inspected by Ofsted?

Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School have?

Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School has 201 pupils on roll.

What age range does Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School cover?

Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 72% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School?

Linthwaite Ardron CofE (Voluntary Aided) Junior and Infant School is at Church Lane, Linthwaite, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD7 5TA.