Buglawton Primary School

Buglawton Primary School is a nurturing and welcoming community primary school where pupils feel safe, valued and well supported. Inspectors found strong relationships between pupils and staff, positive behaviour, and high expectations for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Pupils achieve well in most subjects and benefit from a broad curriculum enriched by trips, visitors, clubs and pupil responsibilities. The school's phonics programme is highly effective, and children in the early years are curious and well prepared for their next steps. Personal development is a notable strength, with pupils learning about faiths and cultures, equality, health and mental health, and healthy relationships. Governance is knowledgeable and supportive, staff workload and well-being are well considered, and parents are positive about the school. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The school has recently refined its curriculum, including in the early years, and has identified the knowledge it wants pupils to learn. Where this is clear, teachers design engaging tasks and check understanding well, helping pupils remember their learning. However, a small number of subjects are at an earlier stage of development, and gaps in pupils' prior knowledge from the previous curriculum make it difficult for them to recall and build on what they already know. The school is working to resolve this. Two areas for improvement were identified. The school should ensure that gaps in pupils' learning in the less-developed subjects are identified and addressed quickly so pupils benefit fully from the improved curriculum. In the early years, the quality of some adult interactions is variable, meaning children's learning and communication are not always developed as well as they could be. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the on-site pre-school was included in the inspection. Under the current inspection framework, no overall effectiveness grade is given.

Strengths

• Nurturing and welcoming school with strong, positive relationships between pupils and staff
• Pupils feel safe, listened to and valued for their individuality
• High expectations for all pupils, including those with SEND
• Pupils achieve well in most subjects across the curriculum
• Pupils are friendly and well behaved, with no disruptions to learning
• New behaviour policy sets high standards and is applied fairly and consistently
• Broad curriculum enriched by trips, visitors, after-school clubs and pupil responsibilities
• Highly effective phonics programme with skilled support for pupils who need to catch up
• Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and supported to achieve well
• Early years curriculum is well thought out and focuses on developing language and communication
• Strong personal development, including knowledge of faiths and cultures, equality and healthy relationships
• Governors are knowledgeable about the quality of education and challenge and support leaders well
• Staff appreciate measures to reduce workload and support well-being
• Parents are positive about the school and value staff approachability
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• In a small number of subjects, the curriculum is at an earlier stage of development and pupils have gaps in prior knowledge from the previous curriculum
• Pupils find it difficult to recall prior learning in these subjects, which prevents them from building new knowledge successfully
• The school should identify and address gaps in pupils' learning quickly and effectively so pupils benefit fully from the improved curriculum
• In the early years, the quality of some adult interactions is variable
• At times, early years staff do not deepen children's knowledge and communication as well as they could

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 Buglawton Primary School attended 95.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.5% 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 Buglawton 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 Buglawton Primary School had 17.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.2% 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, 9.4% of pupils at Buglawton Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.4% 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 Buglawton Primary School received £9,557 and spent £9,741 for each of its 202 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £53,000 (£262 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 Congleton · Cheshire East local authority: places and applications

What is Buglawton Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Buglawton Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Buglawton Primary School was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does Buglawton Primary School have?

Buglawton Primary School has 202 pupils on roll.

What age range does Buglawton Primary School cover?

Buglawton Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 60% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Buglawton Primary School?

Buglawton Primary School is at Buxton Old Road, Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 2EL.