Crowton Christ Church CofE Primary School

Crowton Christ Church CofE Primary School is a small, caring school where pupils are polite, feel safe and behave well. Reading is a notable strength, personal development is strong, and pupils benefit from a broad curriculum, enrichment opportunities and effective attendance work. Safeguarding is effective, and staff feel well supported by the new headteacher. However, this graded inspection found that the quality of education, leadership and management, and early years provision require improvement. The school has been through a turbulent period of leadership change, including temporary headteachers before the current headteacher took up post in April 2024; governors have helped stabilise the school, and recent curriculum improvements have been made with pace. Key concerns are that pupils with SEND do not consistently get effective support in class, writing is not developed well enough—especially spelling, punctuation and handwriting—and assessment is used unevenly, so gaps in some subjects are not picked up. Some pupils therefore do not build knowledge as securely as they should. The report identifies clear next steps: sharpen classroom strategies for SEND, strengthen writing instruction, and use assessment more consistently across the curriculum.

Strengths

• Pupils are polite, well mannered and respectful.
• Staff create a caring and supportive environment where pupils feel safe.
• Pupils behave well and play harmoniously together.
• Pupils take on responsibilities such as school council and junior safety officer roles.
• Reading is a strength, with pupils enjoying a wide range of literature.
• Phonics from Reception builds confidence and fluency in reading.
• Early years children develop positive attitudes, turn-taking and sharing.
• Attendance strategies are effective and pupils attend regularly.
• Pupils experience a wide range of enrichment opportunities.
• Pupils learn how to keep themselves physically and mentally healthy.
• Pupils learn about different faiths and beliefs.
• Staff feel positive, well supported and value their training.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• The curriculum is broad and balanced, with recent swift improvements.
• Early identification of pupils with SEND is improving.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils with SEND do not consistently receive effective classroom support to access the curriculum.
• Writing is not developed well enough, including spelling, punctuation and handwriting.
• Some early years children do not develop secure early writing skills.
• Assessment strategies are used unevenly across subjects.
• Teachers do not always check pupils' learning effectively, so gaps can remain.
• Pupils' achievement is weaker in some curriculum subjects.
• Early years provision requires improvement.
• Leadership and management require improvement despite recent stabilisation.
• Quality of education requires improvement.

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 Crowton Christ Church CofE Primary School attended 95.4% 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 Crowton Christ Church CofE 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 Crowton Christ Church CofE Primary School had 10.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 34.0% of pupils at Crowton Christ Church CofE 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 Crowton Christ Church CofE Primary School received £10,190 and spent £10,426 for each of its 50 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £150,000 (-£2,995 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 Northwich · Cheshire West and Chester local authority: places and applications

What is Crowton Christ Church CofE Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Crowton Christ Church CofE Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Crowton Christ Church CofE Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Crowton Christ Church CofE Primary School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Crowton Christ Church CofE Primary School have?

Crowton Christ Church CofE Primary School has 50 pupils on roll.

What age range does Crowton Christ Church CofE Primary School cover?

Crowton Christ Church CofE Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Crowton Christ Church CofE Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 43% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Crowton Christ Church CofE Primary School?

Crowton Christ Church CofE Primary School is at Crowton, Northwich, Cheshire, CW8 2RW.