Blackpool St John's Church of England Primary School

Blackpool St John’s Church of England Primary School is a caring primary school where pupils are happy, feel safe and settle quickly, including many who join at different points in the year. Inspectors found high expectations for pupils’ social and academic achievement, with pupils typically achieving well, including disadvantaged pupils and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Pastoral support is a particular strength, behaviour is good, and pupils benefit from a broad curriculum, rich trips and clubs, and a strong personal development programme. The early years provision gives children a flying start, reading and phonics are well supported, and pupils with SEND are identified quickly and included fully in school life. The school is judged good across all key areas. Its curriculum is broad, balanced and logically sequenced, and staff receive comprehensive training and coaching. Governance is effective, safeguarding arrangements are effective, and staff appreciate the supportive culture. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it remains a good school. The main areas for improvement are consistency and assessment. Some subject curriculums are not delivered consistently well, which hinders how well some pupils learn. In some subjects, teachers’ strategies for checking pupils’ knowledge are still being developed, so gaps in pupils’ learning are not routinely identified and addressed.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, feel safe and settle quickly, including those who join mid-year.
• Pastoral support is a strength and helps pupils feel ready to learn.
• The school has high expectations and pupils typically achieve well, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• The curriculum is broad, balanced and logically sequenced, with strong early years foundations.
• Staff benefit from comprehensive training and coaching to develop subject knowledge.
• Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and included fully in school life.
• Reading is well promoted, with effective phonics teaching and targeted support for pupils who struggle.
• Pupils behave well in calm, purposeful lessons and understand the school’s golden rule.
• Personal development is well thought out, with rich trips, clubs and opportunities for responsibility.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and governance supports and challenges the school well.

Areas for Improvement

• Some subject curriculums are not implemented consistently well, which hinders some pupils’ learning.
• Assessment strategies in some subjects are still being developed, so gaps in pupils’ knowledge are not routinely identified and addressed.

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 Blackpool St John's Church of England Primary School attended 94.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.8% 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 Blackpool 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 Blackpool 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, 20.0% 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, 29.0% of pupils at Blackpool St John's Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.9% 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 Blackpool St John's Church of England Primary School received £8,814 and spent £8,843 for each of its 207 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £326,000 (£1,575 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 Blackpool St John's Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Blackpool St John's Church of England Primary School is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

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

Blackpool St John's Church of England Primary School was last inspected in June 2025.

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

Blackpool St John's Church of England Primary School has 207 pupils on roll.

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

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

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

In 2025, 77% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

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

Blackpool St John's Church of England Primary School is at Church Street, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY1 3NX.