Shevington Vale Primary School

Shevington Vale Primary School is a small primary school in The Federation of Shevington Community Primary Schools. Safeguarding standards are met, and the school is judged to be at the expected standard for attendance and behaviour, early years, inclusion, and personal development and wellbeing. Pupils feel a strong sense of belonging, attend regularly, behave well and benefit from warm relationships. The early years provision gives children a good start, inclusion work removes barriers for disadvantaged and SEND pupils, and personal development is a particular strength, with pupils learning how to keep safe and appreciate difference. However, achievement, curriculum and teaching, and leadership and governance need attention. At the end of Year 6, combined reading, writing and mathematics attainment is in line with national averages, but greater depth in mathematics is below average. Some pupils do not achieve as well as they could in other curriculum subjects, handwriting is too often weak, and some pupils struggle to remember enough learning to make strong progress. Teaching is variable, feedback is inconsistent, and leaders' and governors' monitoring is not precise enough to give an accurate view of all aspects of school effectiveness. The next steps are to continue developing curriculum implementation so pupils build knowledge securely over time, ensure pupils achieve well across the curriculum and make suitable progress from their starting points, and sharpen monitoring. The school has 195 pupils, free school meals eligibility is well below average, the location is well below average on deprivation, and it operates within a federation with a shared executive headteacher and governing board; it also has nursery provision for two-year-olds and uses one unregistered alternative provision.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met through an open, positive culture where concerns are identified and managed.
• Pupils attend regularly and leaders make attendance a whole-school responsibility.
• Pupils behave well, with warm relationships and older pupils acting as positive role models.
• Children get off to a good start in the early years, including age-appropriate care for two-year-olds.
• The early years curriculum is well sequenced and prepares children well for Year 1.
• Staff identify SEND early and work closely with professionals and families to remove barriers.
• Disadvantaged pupils benefit from provision and pupil premium spending planned around academic and emotional needs.
• Personal development is a strength, with a well-thought-out PSHE curriculum that responds to world and local events.
• Pupils learn how to keep safe online and in the community and know how to report concerns.
• Pupils understand and appreciate difference, believing that being unique is not a barrier to acceptance.
• Staff appreciate leaders' care for workload and wellbeing and value professional development opportunities.
• Leaders have designed a curriculum that sets out what pupils will learn and when, with regular revisiting of prior learning.
• Governors make regular well-informed checks on safeguarding.
• The school works closely with parents and carers to support learning and wellbeing.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement needs attention because greater depth in key stage 2 mathematics is below the national average.
• Some pupils do not achieve as well as they could in curriculum subjects beyond reading, writing and mathematics.
• The quality of some pupils' work is not high enough, particularly handwriting, and too many older pupils have poor writing quality.
• Some pupils struggle to remember enough of their learning, limiting their progress over time.
• Curriculum and teaching need attention because teaching quality is variable across the school.
• Leaders do not have an accurate view of teaching across the school.
• Feedback is inconsistent, so some pupils repeat the same errors over time and progress slows.
• Some activities do not help pupils build new knowledge well enough.
• Leadership and governance need attention because leaders and governors do not have a wholly accurate view of some aspects of school effectiveness.
• Monitoring checks do not always give leaders precise or useful information for improvement.
• Governors' oversight of achievement, curriculum and teaching is not as clear as their safeguarding oversight.
• Some curriculum improvements are too recent to show impact yet.
• Disadvantaged pupils' attainment in writing and mathematics is below national averages.
• Where expectations are too low, pupils are not as well prepared for their next steps as they could be.

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 Shevington Vale Primary School attended 96.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 4.1% 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, 1.0% of pupils at Shevington Vale 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 Shevington Vale Primary School had 20.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.4% 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, 16.3% of pupils at Shevington Vale Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.6% 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 Shevington Vale Primary School received £8,246 and spent £8,199 for each of its 196 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £209,000 (£1,068 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).

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What is Shevington Vale Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Shevington Vale Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Shevington Vale Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Shevington Vale Primary School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Shevington Vale Primary School have?

Shevington Vale Primary School has 196 pupils on roll.

What age range does Shevington Vale Primary School cover?

Shevington Vale Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 70% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Shevington Vale Primary School?

Shevington Vale Primary School is at Runshaw Avenue, Appley Bridge, Wigan, Lancashire, WN6 9JP.