A BRADFORD primary school is pleased to be heading in the right direction after it received an improved Ofsted rating.
Clayton St John CofE Primary School was labelled 'inadequate' by Ofsted in 2017, before it joined the Bradford Diocesan Academies Trust (BDAT).
Following an inspection on March 1and 2 this year, the Bradford Road school was given a 'requires improvement' rating.
READ MORE: Three Bradford schools on Ofsted's worst-performing list
The school was handed this rating in all six categories; overall effectiveness, the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management and early years provision.
The "religious character of the school" was also judged to require improvement.
Leaders have not been disheartened, though, in light of a turbulent couple of years with both changes in leadership and the impact of Covid on teaching proving challenging.
The 439 pupils on the roll range between ages 3 and 11 at this "larger-than-average" mixed-gender school.
Overall, pupils were described as “polite and courteous”, while the school environment was judged to be “calm and purposeful”.
The report added: "Most pupils want to learn and focus well, but some pupils find this difficult. These pupils are given extra help.
"However, this is not always having the positive impact that leaders want. This is because the approaches used are inconsistent.
"Consequently, the behaviours are often repeated. Bullying does happen in the school. It is usually dealt with quickly; however, this is not always the case."
The school leadership team and staff were praised for being "ambitious" and having an “accurate understanding of the areas that need focussing on”.
Although, inspectors do say communication with parents and staff is not always "effective" and the behaviour management systems in the school are "not well understood".
The report noted that while there is still much to be done, like improving the quality of education that pupils receive in some subjects, there are notable “positive improvements” in areas such as reading and mathematics.
Headteacher Gemma Emsley, who took up the post at the school in January 2022, said: “I am proud to have been on this journey of improvement at Clayton St John C of E Primary. I am pleased the inspection identified our strengths, such as pupils' polite and well-mannered behaviour.
"We have worked hard to make these positive changes and the inspection has given us clear next steps to enable us to continue on our journey to ‘Good’."
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