Upperthong Junior and Infant School

Dear parents/ carers,

Our school was inspected by Ofsted in February 2023 and, on behalf of the Leadership Team and Governors, I am pleased to share with you that Upperthong J&I School, Holmfirth, was judged to be a ‘Good School’. As we were a 'Good School' following the last inspection in September 2017 this recent inspection was a section 8 ungraded inspection. Even though it only lasted 2 days, the inspection process was very rigorous and detailed.The resulting report will be published on the Ofsted website and can be viewed in the document below.

It is very pleasing to read such positive things about our school and we are very happy with the conclusions the inspector came to after spending 2 days in school.  There are many comments that we could pick out to highlight why we are proud, however, the words in the report speak for themselves.  The opening paragraph is a pleasure to read:'Pupils flourish at Upperthong Junior and Infant School. Relationships between adults and pupils are kind and respectful. Leaders have provided a broad and interesting curriculum for all pupils. They make sure this includes those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). As a result, pupils thoroughly enjoy coming to school.'

She felt that there was a strong sense of community and belonging and that the children demonstrated exceptional behaviour and positive attitudes to learning. The positive relationships and systems for care and safeguarding were also noted as a strength of the school. This is not something that can be manufactured or prepared for when the inspectors call – it takes years to develop and is there as a result of all staff pulling in the same direction with the same expectations.

The leadership team were given extensive feedback after the inspection, much of which is not in the final short report. With this in mind, I have included some additional feedback which was shared over the 2 days and during the final feedback but is not included in the report. We will continue, as always to develop and improve, putting our children at the forefront of all we do and striving to be the best that we can be.

Finally, I would like to thank the staff, children, parents and Governors for their hard work and commitment to our wonderful school.  The feedback the inspector received from everyone she spoke to was incredibly positive and really reflected how hard everyone who is connected with our fantastic school works. We are very proud of everyone in the Upperthong family.

Kind regards

Carolyn Littlewood