Aspull Church Primary School

Aspull Church Primary School is a smaller-than-average Church of England/Methodist primary in the Diocese of Liverpool. Pupils are proud of their caring, welcoming school and benefit from a calm, orderly environment where relationships are strong. Safeguarding standards are met. Attendance is consistently above national averages, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND, and behaviour is a notable strength. Personal development and wellbeing are also strong, with an extensive enrichment programme, pupil leadership roles and effective pastoral support. The school's strongest work is in attendance, behaviour and pupils' personal development and wellbeing. Its achievement, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, and leadership and governance are generally secure but not yet consistently excellent. Pupils achieve well overall, with above-average published outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6, and reading is prioritised. However, higher attainers and pupils ready for more challenge are not always given work that deepens their knowledge, and some misconceptions, spelling errors and handwriting issues persist because they are not identified and addressed quickly enough. Inclusion is mostly effective, and leaders use additional funding carefully, but checks on the learning of pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are not always precise, and disadvantaged pupils' combined reading, writing and mathematics outcomes were below national in 2024/25. In the early years, provision is solid but some staff interactions do not fully extend children's language and thinking. Leaders know the school well, governors are effective, and staff and parents are positive. The next steps focus on consistent curriculum delivery, swift correction of gaps and misconceptions, and stronger early years interactions.

Strengths

• Pupils are proud, happy and well behaved, and the school environment is calm, orderly and harmonious.
• Attendance is consistently above national averages, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• Bullying is rare, and staff address any incidents promptly and effectively.
• Personal development and wellbeing support is excellent, including daily check-ins and calming spaces.
• Pupils develop secure knowledge of health, safety, relationships, British values and respect for differences.
• The curriculum is broad, balanced and well designed, with logical sequencing towards ambitious goals.
• Pupils achieve well overall, with above-average outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of Year 6.
• Reading is prioritised, and phonics is delivered successfully so children become fluent and accurate readers.
• Inclusion is effective: pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are known well and supported to access learning alongside peers.
• Leaders use additional funding carefully so disadvantaged pupils access the curriculum and wider experiences.
• Leadership and governance are effective, with leaders who know the school and governors who provide support and challenge.
• Staff, governors and parents are positive, and pupils benefit from an extensive enrichment and leadership offer.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils who are ready for more challenging work do not consistently get opportunities to deepen and extend their learning.
• Pupils have gaps and misconceptions in their knowledge across the curriculum.
• Spelling and handwriting errors persist over time because they are not always addressed quickly enough.
• Some staff do not identify or tackle misconceptions and errors as promptly as they could.
• Higher attainment has not been as consistent over time.
• Disadvantaged pupils' combined reading, writing and mathematics outcomes were below national in 2024/25, with a wide disadvantage gap.
• Checks on the learning of pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are not always precise enough, limiting how highly they achieve.
• In early years, some staff interactions do not fully extend children's communication, language and thinking skills.
• The professional learning programme is not yet fully aligned with the school's priority areas.

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 Aspull Church Primary School attended 96.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 2.3% 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 Aspull Church 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 Aspull Church Primary School had 23.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.3% 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, 14.9% of pupils at Aspull Church Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.0% 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 Aspull Church Primary School received £5,928 and spent £5,974 for each of its 202 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £131,000 (£646 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 Aspull Church Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Aspull Church Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in September 2026.

When was Aspull Church Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Aspull Church Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Aspull Church Primary School have?

Aspull Church Primary School has 202 pupils on roll.

What age range does Aspull Church Primary School cover?

Aspull Church Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 77% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Aspull Church Primary School?

Aspull Church Primary School is at Bolton Road, Aspull, Wigan, Lancashire, WN2 1QT.