Castleton Primary School

Castleton Primary School is a welcoming and inclusive school that is performing solidly overall, with safeguarding standards met. Pupils feel safe and valued, behave well, and benefit from strong relationships and a curriculum that prioritises language, reading and personal development. The school serves a diverse community, including many pupils with SEND, EAL and pupils new to the country, and inclusion is central to its work. Leaders have improved the curriculum and teaching, with notable progress in mathematics and writing, and support for pupils with SEND and EAL is a real strength. Governance is committed, staff feel supported, and personal development and wellbeing are embedded across the school. However, some inconsistencies in teaching remain, and not all pupils embed or apply their knowledge securely, particularly in writing. Attendance is improving but persistent absence is still above the national average. Early writing and opportunities beyond the local area need further development. The school serves a relatively deprived area with an above-average proportion of pupils with EHC plans, and leaders have responded well to changing community needs. Next steps focus on attendance, embedding learning across the curriculum, and strengthening early writing.

Strengths

• Inclusive culture that welcomes pupils regardless of barriers, needs or backgrounds
• Strong personal development and wellbeing provision, including the Butterfly Room and pastoral support
• Effective leadership and governance, with supportive workload management and strong parent partnerships
• Pupils behave well, show positive attitudes to learning, and bullying is rare
• Attendance systems are improving attendance and reducing persistent absence
• Early years curriculum is well considered, with a strong focus on language and vocabulary
• Specialist support for pupils with SEND and EAL helps them access the curriculum successfully
• Pupils recall prior learning well in subjects such as history, art and design, and science
• Leaders use pupil premium funding effectively to support disadvantaged pupils
• Pupils develop a strong understanding of rights, diversity and British values

Areas for Improvement

• Persistent absence remains above the national average despite recent improvements
• Some pupils in key stage 1 do not apply handwriting and spelling skills well enough in written work
• Workbooks sometimes do not reflect pupils' prior learning or help them apply what they have learned
• A few staff do not consistently apply the agreed teaching approach across the full curriculum, limiting progress in some year groups
• Some early years children do not fully develop the writing skills needed for key stage 1, particularly letter formation and control
• Opportunities beyond the local area are not fully established, limiting pupils' experiences and aspirations
• Pupils' combined reading, writing and mathematics outcomes have been below national average over the latest three-year period, although recent outcomes have improved
• Writing outcomes at the end of Year 6 remain below national average, and the disadvantaged pupils' writing gap persists

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 Castleton Primary School attended 94.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.0% 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, 0.9% of pupils at Castleton 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 Castleton Primary School had 18.4 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, 11.6% of pupils at Castleton Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.7% 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 Castleton Primary School received £7,031 and spent £7,390 for each of its 341 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £143,000 (£418 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 Rochdale · Rochdale local authority: places and applications

What is Castleton Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Castleton Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Castleton Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Castleton Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Castleton Primary School have?

Castleton Primary School has 352 pupils on roll.

What age range does Castleton Primary School cover?

Castleton Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Castleton Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 55% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Castleton Primary School?

Castleton Primary School is at Hillcrest Road, Castleton, Rochdale, Lancashire, OL11 2QD.