Gisburn Road Community Primary School

Gisburn Road Community Primary School is a highly inclusive and nurturing school where pupils and early years children are happy, safe and well cared for. Inspectors found behaviour and attitudes, personal development and early years provision to be outstanding, while the quality of education and leadership and management were good. The school's vision of bringing family and learning together is evident in strong relationships with parents and carers, and pupils are exceptionally polite, respectful and motivated. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, attendance is rising due to robust action, and pupils with SEND are accurately identified and fully included in the curriculum and wider opportunities.

Strengths

• Pupils are exceptionally polite, respectful and highly motivated to learn.
• Behaviour and attitudes are outstanding, with pupils feeling happy and safe.
• Personal development is exceptional, with a wide range of enriching extra-curricular activities.
• Early years provision is outstanding, with highly trained staff and a meticulously crafted curriculum.
• The school is truly inclusive and ambitious for pupils with SEND.
• Reading is a clear strength, with effective phonics teaching and targeted support.
• Staff build strong, positive relationships with pupils and parents.
• Governors are effective and staff well-being is well considered.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Attendance is improving through robust action.

Areas for Improvement

• Some older pupils have not had time to benefit from recent curriculum improvements in a small number of subjects.
• At times, learning activities do not help pupils develop sufficient depth of knowledge in a small number of subjects.
• The school should better support staff to design learning activities that prepare pupils well for each step in their education.

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 Gisburn Road Community Primary School attended 95.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.5% 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 Gisburn Road 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 Gisburn Road Community Primary School had 26.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 33.3% 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, 8.8% of pupils at Gisburn Road Community 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 Gisburn Road Community Primary School received £7,478 and spent £7,628 for each of its 204 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £88,000 (-£433 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 Barnoldswick · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is Gisburn Road Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Gisburn Road Community Primary School is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Gisburn Road Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Gisburn Road Community Primary School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Gisburn Road Community Primary School have?

Gisburn Road Community Primary School has 204 pupils on roll.

What age range does Gisburn Road Community Primary School cover?

Gisburn Road Community Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 67% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Gisburn Road Community Primary School?

Gisburn Road Community Primary School is at Gisburn Road, Barnoldswick, Lancashire, BB18 5LS.