Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School

Bamber Bridge St Aidan’s is a small, welcoming Church of England primary school where pupils are happy, feel safe and are known well by staff. Inspectors found high expectations, positive relationships and a polite, calm culture, with pupils achieving well in many areas and benefiting from a broad personal development offer. This was a graded inspection following a previous Requires Improvement judgement; under current arrangements no overall effectiveness grade is given.

Strengths

• Happy, welcoming school where staff know pupils well and pupils feel safe
• Strong values embedded across the curriculum and positive relationships
• High expectations for pupils’ achievement and behaviour
• Ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum for all pupils, including those with SEND
• Effective phonics teaching and a strong reading focus from Reception
• Accurate SEND identification and well-adapted teaching
• Good behaviour and attentive pupils in lessons and around school
• Thoughtful personal development programme covering safety, well-being and cultural awareness
• Strong early years relationships and regular checks on communication and language
• Effective safeguarding arrangements
• Supportive governors who know the school well and provide support and challenge
• Staff receive useful professional development and leaders consider workload and well-being

Areas for Improvement

• Some staff do not check that pupils’ prior knowledge is secure before introducing new learning
• Persistent absenteeism means some pupils miss vital learning
• Some aspects of the attendance improvement work are not yet fully developed
• Some pupils had gaps in reading and mathematics by the end of Year 6 in 2024, linked to the previous curriculum

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 Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School attended 93.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 23.0% 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, 10.2% of pupils at Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England 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 Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School had 15.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.0% 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, 31.6% of pupils at Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.2% 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 Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School received £11,364 and spent £10,954 for each of its 95 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £49,000 (£513 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 Preston · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School is Good, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School have?

Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School has 95 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School cover?

Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

What are Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 20% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School?

Bamber Bridge St Aidan's Church of England Primary School is at Larch Grove, Bamber Bridge, Preston, Lancashire, PR5 6GX.