St John's (CofE) Primary Academy, Clifton

About St John's (CofE) Primary Academy, Clifton

St John's (CofE) Primary Academy, Clifton sits within Calderdale local authority, a district with 82 primary schools of the same type. In the most recent local rankings, the school placed 48th out of 73, placing it in the bottom half of Calderdale primaries. The top-performing peers in the area include St Mary's CofE (VC) J and I School, All Saints' CofE Primary School, and The Greetland Academy, all of which scored higher on the same ranking metric. The nearest school rated Outstanding by Ofsted is St Andrew's CofE (VA) Junior School, about two kilometres away. St John's itself was judged Good in its most recent graded inspection in February 2025, a change from its previous Outstanding rating in 2014. The inspection report noted that personal development remains Outstanding, while quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, early years provision, and leadership and management were all rated Good.

Academically, the school's Key Stage 2 results for 2023/24 show that 55% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That figure is slightly below the Calderdale local authority average of 59%. In reading, 72% reached the expected standard and 38% achieved the higher standard, while in maths 79% met the expected level and 34% reached the higher threshold. Writing saw 66% at the expected standard and 14% at the higher level. Average scores were 104 in reading and 105 in maths. Nationally, the school ranked 9,494 out of 13,686 primaries on the combined expected standard metric, placing it in the bottom half of schools across England. Progress scores are not available in the data, so it is not possible to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils' starting points.

The school has capacity for 210 pupils but currently has 196 on roll, and it was oversubscribed for 2025/26 admissions, receiving 45 applications for 24 places, with all 23 first-preference applicants offered a place. Facilities include art studios, a sensory room, a sports hall, a library, music rooms and a chapel. The school offers a range of clubs including drama, coding, science club, gardening, film club and art club, and sports provision covers football, cricket, rounders, dance, swimming, gymnastics and athletics. SEND support is available for specific learning difficulties including dyslexia, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, and other difficulties or disabilities. Parent View responses from 60 parents between September 2024 and September 2025 show that 83% would recommend the school, with particularly strong agreement that children are happy and feel safe. However, views on SEND support were more divided, with 23% disagreeing that the school gives SEND children the support they need.

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