Siddal Primary School

Siddal Primary School is performing well, having improved from its previous inspection grade of Requires Improvement to Good across all evaluated areas. The school fosters a calm and welcoming learning environment where relationships between staff and pupils are positive, promoting safety and open communication. The staff emphasize the school's core values, creating an atmosphere conducive to learning and personal development. Significant improvements have been made to the curriculum, with a focus on vocabulary development and tailored support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Strengths

• Positive relationships between staff and pupils
• A calm and welcoming learning environment
• Strong emphasis on pupils' personal development
• Effective curriculum changes benefiting all pupils
• Clear phonics curriculum with targeted support for reading

Areas for Improvement

• Inconsistent teaching approaches in early reading
• Unclear knowledge and vocabulary expectations in some foundation subjects
• Inconsistent recording and analysis of safeguarding incidents

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 Siddal Primary School attended 94.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.2% 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, 1.6% of pupils at Siddal Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Siddal Primary School had 17.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.8% 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, 27.8% of pupils at Siddal Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.1% 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 2024–25 Siddal Primary School received £7,928 and spent £7,459 for each of its 187 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £668,000 (£3,574 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Polaris Multi Academy Trust, income was £7,304 and spending £6,520 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Halifax · Calderdale local authority: places and applications

Siddal Primary School is part of Polaris Multi Academy Trust, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Old Earth Primary School Elland
• Field Lane Primary School Brighouse
• Salterlee Primary School Halifax
• Rastrick High School Brighouse
• Fixby Junior and Infant School Huddersfield
• Luddendenfoot Academy Halifax

What is Siddal Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Siddal Primary School is Good, from an inspection in October 2023.

When was Siddal Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Siddal Primary School was last inspected in October 2023.

How many pupils does Siddal Primary School have?

Siddal Primary School has 169 pupils on roll.

What age range does Siddal Primary School cover?

Siddal Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 32% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Siddal Primary School?

Siddal Primary School is at Backhold Lane, Siddal, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX3 9DL.