Leeds primary school 'taking effective action to improve' since damning Ofsted report

A primary school in Leeds is “taking effective action to improve” since a damning Ofsted report last year.

Leaders at Cobden Primary School, located on Cobden Road, Farnley, were praised for making progress following a monitoring visit on February 26, but warned that continued work is needed to remove the requires significant improvement designation.

Under the education watchdog’s old scoring system, the school was rated as Requires Improvement in four of the five inspected categories - the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and early years provision, during an inspection on July 8-10, 2025.

Leadership and management at the school was also rated as Inadequate during the previous visit, with efforts to improve the school from a 2022 Require Improvement rating described as lacking “clarity, urgency and effectiveness.”

“Interim leaders have a clear understanding of the school’s development priorities,” the 2026 inspection report said. “They successfully prioritise the right actions for improvement, in the right order. A revised school development plan clearly outlines what needs to happen and when.

“Leaders have raised expectations for both pupils and staff. Staff roles and responsibilities have been made clear. Under interim leadership arrangements, most staff feel valued and respected. The school has introduced a new behaviour system for pupils.”

The school has reviewed its safeguarding procedures and policies since the last graded inspection, according to the report. Staff have a clear understanding of these and receive regular training and updates to ensure that safeguarding practice remains consistent and effective.

Leaders have improved how well pupils with SEND are supported in school. Systems to identify pupils with SEND are well established and leaders have a thorough knowledge and oversight of pupils’ needs.

In most classes, there are improvements in how learning is adapted for pupils with SEND. Where this is the case, these pupils are showing positive signs of working independently, confidently using the resources in place to support them.

A behaviour curriculum has been developed for pupils so that staff revisit expectations and key messages regularly. “Behaviour incidents are reducing,” according to the report. Despite these steps, suspensions remain high for a small number of pupils.

Inspectors added: “There have been some slight improvements in overall attendance and persistent absence. However, leaders acknowledge that significant work to improve this area of the school’s work is still required.

“Leaders have recently reviewed systems for the checking and following up of attendance concerns. These processes are not fully established or embedded. It is too early to see the impact of leaders’ work.”

Where the school has put in place new incentives to encourage pupils to attend school on time, improvements have been seen in punctuality across the school.

Leaders are beginning to see positive impact from the actions they have prioritised regarding pupils’ behaviour and most pupils are “engaged and ready to learn.”

They should “continue to work to address the priorities for improvement” identified in the last graded inspection report.

Stefan Kaczmarek, acting head teacher at Cobden primary school, said: “We are really pleased that the monitoring visit report recognises the hard work that has gone into making improvements across the school in a short period of time.

“We continue to build on this and look forward to the next monitoring inspection.”