Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School

Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School is a small Jewish primary and nursery with 102 pupils. It serves a context with high proportions of pupils with SEND and EHC plans, and considerable mobility in and out of the school. Inspectors found a warm, nurturing and inclusive ethos, with safeguarding standards met and pupils feeling safe. The school is graded strong standard for attendance and behaviour, early years, and inclusion, while achievement, curriculum and teaching, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing are at expected standard. Strengths include highly effective early years provision, strong phonics and early reading, calm and respectful behaviour, and early, precise identification of SEND and disadvantaged pupils' needs. Pastoral support and the wider personal development offer are high quality, and parents are overwhelmingly positive. Leaders and governors know the school well and staff feel valued. The main areas for improvement are that teachers do not consistently choose activities that build on prior learning, pupils' written work sometimes lacks secure spelling and handwriting, and leaders' analysis of performance data is not precise enough to sharpen improvement priorities. Published attendance and persistent absence figures are above national averages, although leaders take targeted action and small cohorts and mobility affect the figures.

Strengths

• Warm, nurturing and inclusive ethos where pupils feel safe and valued
• Calm and purposeful environment with high levels of respect and self-discipline
• Strong early years provision that builds children's knowledge and prepares them well for Year 1
• Effective early identification and support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils
• Strong phonics and early reading, with Year 1 phonics outcomes above national average
• High-quality pastoral support and a broad personal development programme, including clubs, trips and leadership roles
• Leaders and governors know the school well, and staff feel valued and well supported
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the school
• Safeguarding culture is open and positive, and pupils feel safe

Areas for Improvement

• Teachers do not consistently choose activities that build on pupils' prior learning to deepen knowledge across subjects
• Pupils' written work sometimes does not reflect their progress, with gaps in spelling and handwriting
• Leaders' analysis of performance data is not detailed or insightful enough to sharpen school improvement priorities

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 Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School attended 92.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 25.9% 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 Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School 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 Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School had 15.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 19.4% of pupils at Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 8.7% 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 2025–26 Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School received £9,355 and spent £10,821 for each of its 101 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £498,000 (-£4,931 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).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Bury · Bury local authority: places and applications

What is Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School have?

Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School has 103 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School cover?

Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 56% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School?

Bury and Whitefield Jewish Primary School is at Parr Lane, Unsworth, Bury, Lancashire, BL9 8JT.