Higham St John's Church of England Primary School

Higham St John's Church of England Primary School has been judged to require special measures following its January 2026 inspection. Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils describe the school as a caring family where they feel safe, behave well socially and attend regularly. The school's personal development and wellbeing offer is a clear strength, with a broad range of clubs, trips, career-related activities, health education and work on tolerance and British values. Published key stage 2 outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics are close to average, and disadvantaged pupils' outcomes and SEND attendance compare positively. However, inspectors found serious weaknesses in the quality of education. Achievement is weak for younger pupils and in subjects beyond English and mathematics, where the curriculum is not well sequenced and expectations are too low. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities do not receive consistently effective support, and early reading, writing and basic skills are not taught well enough. Early years is a significant concern: the curriculum does not meet the early years foundation stage requirements, environments are poor, and children are not well prepared for Year 1. Leadership and governance are also judged to be inadequate. Leaders and governors have an overly generous view of the school, lack the expertise to drive rapid improvement, and do not provide sufficient oversight of the curriculum. Governors do not hold leaders to account effectively. The school is a Church of England primary in the Diocese of Blackburn, with a small pupil roll and a higher-than-average proportion of pupils with education, health and care plans.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils feel safe and well cared for.
• The personal development programme is well considered and helps pupils become well-rounded citizens.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of clubs, trips, residentials and career-related activities.
• Pupils learn strategies to manage their emotional and physical health.
• Leaders monitor participation to ensure wider development activities are open to all pupils.
• Pupils understand road safety and online safety and learn from visits by professionals.
• Pupils show tolerance and respect for diversity and understand fundamental British values.
• Pupils conduct themselves well during social times and are typically kind and considerate.
• Staff support pupils' emotional needs well and address rare bullying or discriminatory behaviour effectively.
• Attendance systems are suitable, and attendance for pupils with SEND is above national average.
• The pupil premium strategy is well considered and helps most disadvantaged pupils achieve as well as others nationally.
• Leaders work successfully with external agencies and the virtual school to remove barriers for vulnerable pupils.
• The mathematics curriculum is implemented effectively overall.
• Early years staff work closely with parents and carers, and children's emotional needs are met in a safe physical environment.

Areas for Improvement

• The school requires special measures because it is failing to provide an acceptable standard of education.
• Leaders and governors lack the capacity to secure the necessary rapid improvement.
• Leaders and governors have an overly generous view of the school and do not focus sharply on improvement priorities.
• The curriculum is not ambitious or well sequenced, especially in mixed-age classes and beyond English and mathematics.
• Expectations for what pupils can learn and achieve are too low, especially for pupils with SEND.
• Too much emphasis on national tests narrows the curriculum and limits deeper subject understanding.
• Staff lack expertise to teach early reading, handwriting, spelling and punctuation well.
• Assessment systems do not help staff identify misconceptions or close learning gaps.
• Pupils with SEND do not receive consistently effective support and do not get close enough help with writing.
• The early years curriculum does not meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage.
• Children's unique starting points are not considered carefully enough, and expectations are too low.
• Indoor and outdoor early years environments are of poor quality and do not engage children well.
• Early years staff lack knowledge to support children's language, vocabulary, reading and writing development.
• Children are not prepared well enough for transition to Year 1.
• Many teachers do not encourage pupils to take pride in their work or have high enough expectations for quality and quantity.
• Pupils become disengaged and low-level chatter is not consistently managed.
• Children in early years and pupils in key stage 1 are not supported well enough to become independent, inquisitive learners.
• Governors lack the knowledge and skills to hold leaders closely to account.
• Governors support staff wellbeing but have not done the same for leaders, limiting leaders' ability to focus on priorities.
• Professional development does not ensure staff have the confidence and expertise to deliver the wider curriculum effectively.
• Leaders do not have sufficient oversight of how well pupils learn across the 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 Higham St John's Church of England Primary School attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.2% 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, 2.3% of pupils at Higham St John'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 Higham St John's Church of England Primary School had 20.7 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, 12.5% of pupils at Higham St John's Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.3% 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 Higham St John's Church of England Primary School received £8,646 and spent £8,566 for each of its 120 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £86,000 (£718 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).

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What is Higham St John's Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Higham St John's Church of England Primary School is Urgent improvement, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Higham St John's Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Higham St John's Church of England Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Higham St John's Church of England Primary School have?

Higham St John's Church of England Primary School has 120 pupils on roll.

What age range does Higham St John's Church of England Primary School cover?

Higham St John's Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Higham St John's Church of England Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 53% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Higham St John's Church of England Primary School?

Higham St John's Church of England Primary School is at Higham Hall Road, Higham, Burnley, Lancashire, BB12 9EU.