Barford Primary School

Barford Primary School is a small village primary school judged to be working at the expected standard overall, with safeguarding standards met. Pupils typically achieve well, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities by the end of Year 6. Reading and phonics teaching are particular strengths, and the early years provision gives children a secure start. Pupils feel safe, behave well, and benefit from a calm, inclusive environment. Leaders have an accurate understanding of teaching and curriculum quality, act quickly on improvement, and have secured progress since the previous inspection while managing financial challenges. Governors provide effective support and challenge, and staff benefit from professional learning and wellbeing support. There are still areas for development. The teaching of writing is not consistently high quality, especially for higher-attaining pupils and pupils with SEND. The curriculum for foundation subjects is being refined so that pupils develop deep subject knowledge consistently across all subjects. In addition, academic interventions are sometimes not delivered consistently well, and adaptations are not always adjusted effectively, which can slow some pupils' progress through the curriculum. Overall, the school provides a safe, caring and inclusive education and is continuing to improve.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met with an open culture of safeguarding.
• Pupils typically achieve well, including disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND by the end of Year 6.
• The teaching of reading and phonics is a particular strength.
• Early years provision gives children a secure start through warm relationships and clear routines.
• Pupils behave well in calm, purposeful and inclusive classrooms.
• Pupils feel safe and know that bullying is rare and addressed effectively.
• Leaders accurately understand teaching and curriculum quality and act quickly on improvements.
• Governors provide effective support and challenge and meet statutory duties.
• Inclusion is a priority, with targeted support for pupils with SEND and social, emotional and mental health needs.
• Personal development is strong, including diversity, inclusion, healthy relationships and online safety.
• Pupils access a broad enrichment offer, including arts, culture, sports, art and music.
• Pastoral support is effective in helping pupils manage emotions and be ready to learn.
• Staff wellbeing and workload are supported, and professional learning is valued.
• Attendance systems are robust and most pupils attend regularly and in line with national averages.

Areas for Improvement

• The teaching of writing is not consistently of high quality, particularly for higher-attaining pupils and pupils with SEND.
• The curriculum for foundation subjects requires further refinement so pupils develop deep subject knowledge consistently across all subjects.
• Academic interventions are sometimes not delivered consistently well, and adaptations are not always adjusted effectively, which can slow pupils' progress.
• Published outcomes in writing and combined reading, writing and mathematics are below national averages, although small cohorts affect the reliability of this data.

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 Barford Primary School attended 94.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.4% 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, 2.0% of pupils at Barford 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 Barford Primary School had 20.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 42.3% 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, 19.5% of pupils at Barford Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.9% 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 Barford Primary School received £9,652 and spent £9,338 for each of its 87 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £211,000 (-£2,428 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 Norwich · Norfolk local authority: places and applications

What is Barford Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Barford Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Barford Primary School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Barford Primary School have?

Barford Primary School has 87 pupils on roll.

What age range does Barford Primary School cover?

Barford Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 56% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Barford Primary School?

Barford Primary School is at Chapel Street, Barford, Norwich, Norfolk, NR9 4AB.