Horton Mill Community Primary School

Horton Mill Community Primary School is a welcoming, inclusive school where pupils are happy, behave well and benefit from positive relationships with staff and each other. Early years provision is strong, reading is a clear priority and pupils’ fluency is improving, while support for pupils with SEND and those learning English as an additional language is effective. Pupils also benefit from a broad personal development offer, including trips, pupil leadership roles and opportunities to learn about different faiths and cultures. Attendance is improving and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main concern is the quality of education in key stages 1 and 2. The school has recently introduced more ambitious curriculums in many subjects, including writing and mathematics, but these changes are too new to have had the intended impact. Pupils still have gaps in their knowledge from the previous curriculum, and staff do not consistently check that pupils are secure with prior learning before moving on. As a result, pupils’ learning across a range of subjects remains uneven. Governance is also not yet effective enough. Governors do not have a secure enough understanding of the quality of education pupils receive and have not provided sufficient challenge or support to hold the school to account. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and under the current framework the school did not receive an overall effectiveness grade.

Strengths

• Welcoming and inclusive community with positive relationships between pupils and staff
• Pupils behave well, are respectful and kind, and enjoy positive breaktimes
• Reading is a clear priority, with an effective phonics programme and good support for pupils who struggle
• Early years provision is strong and prepares children well for key stage 1
• Effective support helps pupils who speak English as an additional language develop communication and language skills
• Pupils with SEND are identified well and receive suitably matched support
• Attendance is improving because of swift and effective action
• Pupils benefit from a broad personal development offer, including trips, pupil leadership and learning about faiths and cultures
• Staff appreciate the school’s work to manage workload and develop their subject knowledge
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Recent curriculum improvements have not yet had time to improve pupils’ learning
• Pupils in key stages 1 and 2 have significant gaps in knowledge from the previous curriculum
• Learning remains uneven across subjects because curriculum improvements are new
• Staff do not routinely check that pupils understand prior learning before introducing new content
• Governors lack sufficient understanding of the quality of education and do not provide enough challenge or support
• Governance has not had enough impact on improving pupils’ achievement

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 Horton Mill Community Primary School attended 94.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.0% 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 Horton Mill Community 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 Horton Mill Community Primary School had 29.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 19.8% 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, 16.8% of pupils at Horton Mill Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.2% 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 Horton Mill Community Primary School received £8,178 and spent £7,876 for each of its 225 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £74,000 (£329 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 Oldham · Oldham local authority: places and applications

What is Horton Mill Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Horton Mill Community Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Horton Mill Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Horton Mill Community Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Horton Mill Community Primary School have?

Horton Mill Community Primary School has 238 pupils on roll.

What age range does Horton Mill Community Primary School cover?

Horton Mill Community Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Horton Mill Community Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 47% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Horton Mill Community Primary School?

Horton Mill Community Primary School is at Southlink, Glodwick, Oldham, Greater Manchester, OL4 1GL.