Follifoot Church of England Primary School

Follifoot Church of England Primary School is a small rural school that has improved to be good across all four inspected areas, up from its previous requires improvement judgement. Pupils are happy, safe and respectful, relationships are strong, and the school's values are evident in everyday life. Staff have high expectations, including for pupils with SEND, and the curriculum is adapted well so these pupils access the same ambitious endpoints and make strong progress. Reading and phonics are strengths, behaviour is calm and orderly, and personal development is well considered, with effective safeguarding arrangements. The main concern is writing: younger pupils are sometimes taught complex grammar before securing basic punctuation, which leads to inaccuracies and hinders fluency. In addition, recent leadership changes, though well managed and now settled, delayed the development of systems for checking the wider curriculum's impact. As a result, governors and curriculum leaders do not yet have a clear enough picture of how well the curriculum is working, so some improvements are not identified quickly enough. Contextually, the school is federated with Spofforth Church of England Primary School and shares a headteacher; early years provision is at Spofforth. Leaders have brought increased stability after repeated leadership changes, staff morale is high, and the school is well supported by the local authority and diocese.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, safe and show kindness and respect to one another.
• Strong, respectful relationships between adults and pupils underpin a calm and orderly school.
• Pupils with SEND access the same ambitious curriculum and make strong progress.
• Staff have high expectations and adapt the curriculum well to include all pupils.
• Reading is a high priority, with well-trained phonics staff and effective extra help.
• Teachers check learning regularly, revisit prior learning and address misunderstandings quickly.
• Mathematics is taught clearly, helping pupils become confident and proficient.
• Behaviour is calm and orderly, with consistent expectations and few disrupted lessons.
• Personal development is well planned, including safety, healthy relationships and online safety.
• Pupil leadership roles build confidence and contribution to school life.
• Staff morale is high and staff are committed to the school and community.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Early writing focuses too soon on complex grammar before basic punctuation is secure, leading to punctuation errors and less fluent writing.
• Curriculum leaders and governors do not check the impact of the wider curriculum well enough, so some improvement areas are not identified swiftly.
• Recent leadership disruption delayed effective systems for monitoring curriculum quality.

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 Follifoot Church of England Primary School attended 93.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 20.0% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Follifoot 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 Follifoot Church of England Primary School had 17.5 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, 23.8% of pupils at Follifoot Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.8% 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 Follifoot Church of England Primary School received £11,754 and spent £11,306 for each of its 42 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £14,000 (£337 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 Follifoot Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Follifoot Church of England Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Follifoot Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Follifoot Church of England Primary School was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Follifoot Church of England Primary School have?

Follifoot Church of England Primary School has 42 pupils on roll.

What age range does Follifoot Church of England Primary School cover?

Follifoot Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

What are Follifoot Church of England Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 88% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Follifoot Church of England Primary School?

Follifoot Church of England Primary School is at Main Street, Follifoot, Harrogate, North Yorkshire, HG3 1DU.