Newchurch Community Primary School

Newchurch Community Primary School is a happy, friendly and well-run primary school where pupils are polite, behave well and feel safe. Staff know pupils as individuals, have high expectations for all learners including those with SEND, and pupils mostly achieve well and are well prepared for their next stage of education. The school's broad and ambitious curriculum, strong reading and phonics provision, accurate SEND identification and exceptional personal development offer notable strengths. Safeguarding is effective, and governors support and challenge the school well. The inspection found the school to be good in quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, leadership and management, and early years provision, with personal development judged outstanding. This was the first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and inspectors took the pandemic's impact into account. The school has no overall effectiveness grade because schools inspected from September 2024 are not given one under the current framework. The main area for improvement is assessment in a few subjects, where the approach is at an early stage. In these subjects, some gaps in pupils' knowledge are not identified and addressed as effectively as they could be, which can hinder how well some pupils build on new learning. Leaders should ensure staff are equipped to spot and remedy these gaps swiftly.

Strengths

• Pupils are polite, considerate and behave well in class and at breaktimes.
• Staff know pupils very well and treat them with kindness and respect.
• The school has high expectations for all pupils, including those with SEND.
• The curriculum is broad, rich and ambitious across the school.
• Teachers benefit from high-quality training that helps them deliver the curriculum effectively.
• Pupils with SEND are identified accurately and swiftly and receive tailored support.
• Reading has a high profile and phonics is delivered consistently well.
• Personal development is exceptional, with an extensive range of opportunities.
• Governors support and challenge the school well and consider staff well-being.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment in a few subjects is in the early stage of development.
• Some gaps in pupils' knowledge are not identified and addressed as effectively as they should be.
• In a small number of subjects, teachers do not remedy gaps well enough, which can hinder some pupils' learning.

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 Newchurch Community Primary School attended 95.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.0% 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, 0.5% of pupils at Newchurch Community 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 Newchurch Community Primary School had 25.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 25.5% 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, 12.3% of pupils at Newchurch Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.9% 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 Newchurch Community Primary School received £7,234 and spent £7,020 for each of its 204 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £104,000 (£511 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 Warrington · Warrington local authority: places and applications

What is Newchurch Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Newchurch Community Primary School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Newchurch Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Newchurch Community Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Newchurch Community Primary School have?

Newchurch Community Primary School has 204 pupils on roll.

What age range does Newchurch Community Primary School cover?

Newchurch Community Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 47% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Newchurch Community Primary School?

Newchurch Community Primary School is at Glebeland, Culcheth, Warrington, Cheshire, WA3 4DX.