Courtney Primary School

Courtney Primary School is a welcoming and inclusive community school where pupils are happy, proud and behave well. Inspectors found that pupils understand the school's high expectations, have positive attitudes to learning and are well supported to achieve their best, including pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Pastoral support is a notable strength, with strong partnerships with families helping pupils to feel safe and manage their emotions. The school provides a broad and ambitious curriculum in many subjects, with well-sequenced content and a strong focus on reading. Children learn to read as soon as they start school, and the phonics programme is delivered consistently well. Pupils also benefit from enriching trips, clubs, art and music opportunities, and a comprehensive personal development curriculum. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The inspection took place after a period of leadership and staffing changes, including a new headteacher appointed in January 2021, and was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. Leaders have worked effectively with the local authority and governors to stabilise staffing and improve the curriculum. However, in a few subjects the curriculum and assessment are still being developed, and checks on pupils' learning do not routinely pick up gaps in knowledge, meaning some pupils are not sufficiently well prepared for what comes next.

Strengths

• Welcoming and inclusive school at the heart of its community
• Pupils are happy, proud, respectful and behave well
• Pupils have positive attitudes to learning and succeed
• Broad, ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum in many subjects
• Stimulating trips and experiences enrich pupils' learning
• Wide range of clubs, art and music opportunities
• Strong pastoral support and effective family partnerships
• Pupils feel safe and trust adults to care for them
• Effective identification and support for pupils with SEND
• Reading is prioritised and phonics is consistently well taught
• Highly effective social and emotional support for pupils
• Comprehensive personal development curriculum
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Staff use good subject knowledge to model and explain learning
• Early years learning is engaging and fun
• Leadership has stabilised staffing and improved the curriculum

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum and assessment are still being developed in a few subjects
• Checks on pupils' learning do not routinely identify gaps in knowledge in some subjects
• Some pupils have gaps in learning and are not sufficiently prepared for what comes next
• Some subjects are at an earlier stage of curriculum development and implementation

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 Courtney Primary School attended 92.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.7% 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, 2.0% of pupils at Courtney 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 Courtney Primary School had 21.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 10.0% 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, 20.6% of pupils at Courtney Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.2% 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 Courtney Primary School received £6,771 and spent £6,931 for each of its 189 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £169,000 (-£895 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 Bristol · South Gloucestershire local authority: places and applications

What is Courtney Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Courtney Primary School is Good, from an inspection in October 2024.

When was Courtney Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Courtney Primary School was last inspected in October 2024.

How many pupils does Courtney Primary School have?

Courtney Primary School has 189 pupils on roll.

What age range does Courtney Primary School cover?

Courtney Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 62% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Courtney Primary School?

Courtney Primary School is at Courtney Road, Kingswood, Bristol, BS15 9RD.