Shadwell Primary School

Shadwell Primary School is a friendly, community-minded primary where pupils behave well and achieve highly. Inspectors found a broad, ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum, strong reading and phonics provision, and an early years environment that supports children well. Pupils with SEND learn the same curriculum as their peers and achieve well from their starting points. The school is part of the Bramham and Shadwell Federation and has had a new headteacher since September 2024; it was previously judged to require improvement and this inspection found it effective across all key areas. Strengths include calm and orderly behaviour, positive relationships, a wide range of clubs and enrichment, and strong engagement with parents and the local community. Staff feel supported and work collaboratively, governance is rigorous, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. Leaders have also built useful partnerships with other schools and educational bodies. Two areas need further work. Pupils’ learning about protected characteristics is not well sequenced or age-appropriate, so by the end of key stage 2 they do not have sufficient depth of understanding. In addition, teaching does not consistently check pupils’ understanding with enough rigour, and questioning or activity choices sometimes fail to secure essential knowledge or extend pupils’ thinking.

Strengths

• Broad, ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum
• High aspirations with pupils achieving highly, especially in key stage 2 reading, writing and mathematics
• Strong early years provision with a purposeful, well-resourced environment
• Effective phonics and reading provision, including support for pupils who need extra help
• Pupils with SEND learn the same curriculum and achieve well from their starting points
• Calm, orderly behaviour and positive relationships across the school
• Wide range of enrichment, clubs and leadership opportunities for pupils
• Strong staff collaboration, support for workload and well-being
• Effective governance and strong engagement with parents and the local community
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Personal development programme does not teach protected characteristics in a well-ordered, age-appropriate way
• By the end of key stage 2, pupils lack appropriate depth of knowledge about protected characteristics
• Teachers do not always check pupils’ understanding rigorously enough
• Questioning and activity choices sometimes fail to consolidate essential knowledge or extend pupils’ learning

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 Shadwell Primary School attended 96.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.1% 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 Shadwell Primary 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 Shadwell Primary School had 23.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 15.4% 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, 7.5% of pupils at Shadwell Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.0% 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 Shadwell Primary School received £6,856 and spent £7,344 for each of its 200 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £200,000 (-£999 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 Shadwell Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Shadwell Primary School is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was Shadwell Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Shadwell Primary School was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does Shadwell Primary School have?

Shadwell Primary School has 200 pupils on roll.

What age range does Shadwell Primary School cover?

Shadwell Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

What are Shadwell Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 77% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Shadwell Primary School?

Shadwell Primary School is at Main Street, Shadwell, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS17 8JF.