Sharneyford Primary School

Sharneyford Primary School is performing at the expected standard overall, with every evaluated area—achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing—judged as expected. Inspectors found a welcoming, inclusive school where pupils feel safe, valued and well supported, and where positive relationships and clear routines help learning begin promptly. The curriculum is ambitious and rooted in the local area, with communication, reading, writing and mathematics at its core. Early reading is generally taught well, early years children get off to a strong start, and pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are well included and generally achieve well. Attendance has improved to broadly national levels after being below average in recent years, and behaviour is positive, with bullying rare and disruption minimal. Leaders, governors and staff have a clear vision and an accurate understanding of the school’s strengths and improvement priorities. Staff receive high-quality training, including to support pupils with increasingly complex needs, and parents speak highly of the care and support provided. The school is small, with 63 pupils, and national outcomes fluctuate partly because of small year groups; current pupils’ achievement is typically positive. Inspection findings identify some areas for further refinement: checks on learning and feedback are not always precise enough to identify and address misconceptions in foundational knowledge promptly, particularly in letter formation, handwriting and spelling. Teaching activities sometimes do not build sufficiently on prior knowledge or give pupils purposeful chances to rehearse and apply key concepts. Leaders should also broaden the personal development offer to include more cultural experiences and greater appreciation of the arts.

Strengths

• Welcoming and inclusive school culture where pupils feel safe, valued and respected
• Pupils behave well, show positive attitudes to learning and are confident staff will address bullying quickly
• Attendance has improved and is now broadly in line with national averages
• Ambitious curriculum with clear knowledge and vocabulary, including relevant local history
• Communication, reading, writing and mathematics sit at the core of the curriculum
• Early reading and phonics are generally taught well, helping most pupils become fluent readers
• Early years children settle quickly and benefit from warm relationships, purposeful routines and high-quality interactions
• Pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are included in all aspects of school life and generally achieve well
• Leaders, governors and staff have a clear vision and work together effectively on improvement
• High-quality staff training supports teaching and meeting increasingly complex pupil needs
• Personal development curriculum covers safety, healthy relationships, online safety and wellbeing
• Enrichment activities, outdoor learning, sports clubs and a key stage 2 residential broaden pupils’ experiences

Areas for Improvement

• Checks on learning and the impact of feedback are not always precise enough to identify misconceptions promptly
• Pupils’ errors in letter formation, handwriting and spelling are not always addressed quickly enough to build writing fluency
• Some learning activities do not consistently build on prior knowledge or provide purposeful rehearsal and application of key concepts
• The personal development programme could better broaden pupils’ cultural lives and deepen appreciation of the arts
• Attendance systems have been strengthened but need time to embed so attendance continues to improve

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 Sharneyford Primary School attended 93.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 16.4% 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 Sharneyford 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 Sharneyford Primary School had 23.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 54.1% 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, 12.7% of pupils at Sharneyford Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.8% 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 Sharneyford Primary School received £9,314 and spent £9,952 for each of its 63 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £3,000 (£46 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 Bacup · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is Sharneyford Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Sharneyford Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Sharneyford Primary School was last inspected in September 2026.

How many pupils does Sharneyford Primary School have?

Sharneyford Primary School has 63 pupils on roll.

What age range does Sharneyford Primary School cover?

Sharneyford Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 30% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Sharneyford Primary School?

Sharneyford Primary School is at Todmorden Road, Bacup, Lancashire, OL13 9UQ.