Highburton CofE First Academy

Highburton CofE First Academy is a small rural village Church of England school within the Enhance Trust. Inspectors found the school performing strongly overall, with particular strengths in achievement, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Pupils achieve highly, including in phonics, and most children leave Reception well prepared for Year 1. The school is highly inclusive, and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils are supported effectively to access an ambitious curriculum. Attendance is above national averages and persistent absence is very low. Safeguarding standards are met. Two areas are judged at the expected standard rather than strong: attendance and behaviour, and curriculum and teaching. Behaviour is typically calm, orderly and respectful, but leaders' high expectations are not yet applied with full consistency across all classes and times of the school day. In the curriculum, a small number of older pupils need extra help to secure handwriting and spelling, and for some pupils the support is not improving their writing quickly enough. Leaders have already introduced a new handwriting programme and a behaviour council, but the full impact of these recent initiatives is still to be seen.

Strengths

• Pupils achieve highly across the curriculum and are well prepared for their next stage of education.
• Phonics outcomes in Year 1 are above national averages, giving pupils an assured start in reading.
• Early years provision is highly stimulating, well sequenced and puts communication and language at its heart.
• Inclusive practice is a central strength, with sharply targeted support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• Leadership and governance are tenacious, accurate and well supported by the trust, with strong staff morale.
• Personal development and wellbeing provision is a notable strength, including e-safety, relationships education and British values.
• Attendance is above national averages for all groups, and persistent absence is very low.
• Pupils behave well, relationships are warm and respectful, and bullying is rare.
• The school provides a broad range of clubs, trips, residentials and cultural experiences through the Highburton Passport.
• Disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND participate at very high rates in wider opportunities.

Areas for Improvement

• A small number of older pupils need extra help to secure their handwriting and spelling skills.
• For a small number of pupils, writing support is not improving their writing quickly enough.
• High expectations for pupils' behaviour are not yet realised with full consistency across all classes and times of the school day.
• The recently established behaviour council is too new for its full impact to be seen.

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 Highburton CofE First Academy attended 97.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 2.7% 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 Highburton CofE First 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 Highburton CofE First Academy had 23.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 24.2% 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, 6.2% of pupils at Highburton CofE First Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.9% 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 Highburton CofE First Academy received £5,953 and spent £5,845 for each of its 173 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £64,000 (£370 per pupil).

Across all 17 schools of Enhance Academy Trust, income was £7,136 and spending £7,057 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 Huddersfield · Kirklees local authority: places and applications

Highburton CofE First Academy is part of Enhance Academy Trust, which runs 17 schools. The nearest others:

• Lepton CofE Primary Academy Huddersfield
• Christ Church CE Academy Huddersfield
• Overthorpe CofE Academy Dewsbury
• Diamond Wood Community Academy Dewsbury
• Horbury Bridge Church of England Junior and Infant Academy Wakefield
• Batley Parish CofE Primary Academy Batley
• St Michael's CofE Academy Wakefield
• Dodworth St John the Baptist CofE Primary Academy Barnsley
• CAPA College Wakefield
• St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Barnsley Barnsley

What is Highburton CofE First Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Highburton CofE First Academy is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Highburton CofE First Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Highburton CofE First Academy was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Highburton CofE First Academy have?

Highburton CofE First Academy has 161 pupils on roll.

What age range does Highburton CofE First Academy cover?

Highburton CofE First Academy for pupils aged 4 to 10.

Where is Highburton CofE First Academy?

Highburton CofE First Academy is at Northfield Lane, Highburton, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, HD8 0QT.