Grimes Dyke Primary School

Grimes Dyke Primary School is a warm and welcoming school where pupils are happy, safe and known well. Behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision are all good, and safeguarding is effective. The school's strong pastoral ethos — 'Team GD' — and its exceptional outdoor provision help pupils learn to play and work together across age groups, and children in the early years get off to a flying start thanks to a carefully designed curriculum. Enrichment, including family residential weekends, and well-trained staff who use the phonics approach consistently are further notable strengths. The headline concern is the quality of education, which requires improvement. In some subjects the curriculum does not yet set out the essential knowledge pupils should learn and when, so teachers lack the support to build learning progressively and pupils' recall varies. Systems for checking understanding, including for pupils with SEND, are underdeveloped, and pupils who struggle with reading do not receive effective wider support to become fluent. Pupils' knowledge of British values and different faiths and cultures is not yet secure, and attendance, while rigorously followed up, is not high enough. Leaders, governors and staff share a clear drive to improve, and the school has already begun reviewing its curriculum and has introduced 'The Hive' provision for pupils needing bespoke support. This is a maintained primary school with a nursery, inspected under section 5 in February 2025 following a previous good judgement in 2020; it does not receive an overall effectiveness grade under current arrangements.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, safe and known well, with a strong sense of belonging to 'Team GD'
• Exceptional outdoor provision supports learning, play and respect for others across age groups
• Pupils behave well in lessons and have positive attitudes to learning
• Teaching is made fun and interesting, with high expectations for pupils
• Reading is prioritised, with well-chosen texts that inspire pupils across subjects
• Staff are well trained and apply the phonics approach consistently
• Early years provision is carefully designed and gives children a flying start
• 'The Hive' provides skilled, effective bespoke support for pupils with SEND
• Personal development is prioritised, with wide enrichment opportunities and strong family support
• Rigorous attendance and punctuality processes, with close work with families
• Governors are committed, knowledgeable and hold leaders to account
• Staff value the support they receive for workload and well-being
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum does not identify essential knowledge in some subjects, so learning does not build progressively
• Assessment and checking systems are underdeveloped, leading to gaps in pupils' knowledge
• Adaptation of learning for pupils with SEND is inconsistent
• Wider support for pupils struggling with reading is not effective enough
• Pupils' knowledge of British values and different faiths and cultures is not secure
• Attendance is not high enough
• Pupils' outcomes are improving but remain too low in some areas

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 Grimes Dyke Primary School attended 92.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 22.5% 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, 7.1% of pupils at Grimes Dyke 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 Grimes Dyke Primary School had 19.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 5.4% 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, 19.8% of pupils at Grimes Dyke Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.4% 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 Grimes Dyke Primary School received £8,609 and spent £9,863 for each of its 222 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £397,000 (-£1,788 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 Grimes Dyke Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Grimes Dyke Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Grimes Dyke Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Grimes Dyke Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Grimes Dyke Primary School have?

Grimes Dyke Primary School has 227 pupils on roll.

What age range does Grimes Dyke Primary School cover?

Grimes Dyke Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 43% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Grimes Dyke Primary School?

Grimes Dyke Primary School is at Stanks Drive, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS14 5BY.