West Vale Academy

West Vale Academy is a much smaller-than-average primary school with mixed-age classes, high proportions of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND, and it is part of Great Heights Academy Trust. Following this section 5 inspection, the school is fulfilling the expected standard across achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and well-being; safeguarding standards are met. Leaders have improved the curriculum and teaching in recent years, and by the end of key stage 2 pupils' outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics are in line with or above national averages. Disadvantaged pupils achieve above disadvantaged pupils nationally and the disadvantage gap has narrowed. Pupils are happy, attend well and behave calmly, and they benefit from caring relationships and strong support for SEND. Inclusion is a clear strength: staff make thoughtful adjustments, work closely with families and agencies, and parents are highly positive. The early years and personal development offer are also positive, with children settling quickly and pupils taking on responsibilities and enrichment opportunities. Inspectors identified two main areas for further improvement. In the early years, some adults do not consistently make the most of opportunities to develop children's vocabulary and deepen their thinking. In lessons and subjects across the wider curriculum, some activities do not help pupils remember and embed key knowledge over the long term.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve well by the end of key stage 2, with reading, writing and mathematics outcomes in line with or above national averages.
• Disadvantaged pupils achieve above disadvantaged pupils nationally and the school has narrowed the disadvantage gap.
• Pupils love coming to school and attend well, with persistent absence reduced for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• Behaviour is calm and staff apply behaviour policies consistently; serious behaviour incidents are very rare.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced and well adapted for mixed-age classes.
• Phonics teaching is strong and pupils use carefully chosen books to practise new sounds.
• Staff make thoughtful adjustments for pupils with SEND, helping them focus, take part and work independently.
• Inclusion is a clear strength, with warm relationships, clear plans and close work with families and agencies.
• Leaders make effective use of trust support, training, coaching and shared leadership to develop staff.
• Governance is effective and holds leaders to account while keeping disadvantaged pupils at the core of decisions.
• Personal development is carefully planned, with enrichment, responsibilities and opportunities to discuss feelings and safety.
• Parents are highly positive about the school's nurturing support and family feel.
• Children in the early years settle quickly and are well supported emotionally.

Areas for Improvement

• Some early years adults do not consistently maximise opportunities to develop children's vocabulary and deepen their thinking.
• Some tasks in wider curriculum lessons do not help pupils use and embed key knowledge over the long term.

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 West Vale Academy attended 94.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 12.7% 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 West Vale Academy 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 West Vale Academy had 24.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 50.0% 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, 36.5% of pupils at West Vale Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 13.5% 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 West Vale Academy received £10,970 and spent £10,953 for each of its 84 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £219,000 (£2,607 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Great Heights Academy Trust, income was £8,616 and spending £8,424 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

West Vale Academy is part of Great Heights Academy Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• The Greetland Academy Halifax
• Bowling Green Academy Halifax
• Colne Valley High School Huddersfield
• Nields Academy Huddersfield
• The Mirfield Free Grammar Mirfield
• Marsden Junior School Huddersfield
• Carlinghow Academy Batley
• Raynville Academy Leeds

What is West Vale Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for West Vale Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in January 2026.

When was West Vale Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

West Vale Academy was last inspected in January 2026.

How many pupils does West Vale Academy have?

West Vale Academy has 74 pupils on roll.

What age range does West Vale Academy cover?

West Vale Academy for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are West Vale Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 82% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is West Vale Academy?

West Vale Academy is at Stainland Road, West Vale, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX4 8LS.