Bolney CofE Primary School

Bolney CofE Primary School is a small, happy and welcoming school where pupils feel safe and behave well. Inspectors found high aspirations and an ambitious curriculum that builds logically from Reception to Year 6, with effective early reading and a strong early years foundation. Pupils benefit from a broad personal development offer, including clubs, responsibilities, overseas links and visits, and they are well prepared for life in modern Britain. Safeguarding is effective, staff feel valued, and governance is effective. The school’s main areas for improvement are in the quality of education. In some subjects, learning is not adapted well enough for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, so these pupils do not progress as well as they could. Expectations for pupils’ writing are not consistently high enough, and some pupils struggle to express themselves clearly in written work because they do not get enough regular practice. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and inspectors took the pandemic’s impact into account. The school was judged good across the key judgements, with no overall effectiveness grade given under the current inspection framework.

Strengths

• Happy, welcoming and supportive school where pupils feel safe and flourish
• Ambitious curriculum builds logically from the early years to Year 6 and prepares pupils for secondary school
• Strong early reading and phonics teaching helps pupils read fluently, with quick catch-up support
• Teachers have strong subject knowledge and ask questions that help pupils remember more
• Effective early years provision with high-quality interactions and carefully selected activities
• Pupils behave well, get on together, and incidents of poor behaviour or bullying are extremely rare
• Attendance has improved through clear monitoring systems
• Broad personal development offer including clubs, overseas links, responsibilities, visits and performances
• Pupils understand and accept difference and are well prepared for life in modern Britain
• Staff feel valued and well supported, and governance is effective
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Learning is not adapted well enough for pupils with SEND in some subjects, limiting their progress
• Expectations for developing pupils’ writing skills are not consistently high enough
• Some pupils find it hard to express themselves in written work due to insufficient regular writing practice

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 Bolney CofE Primary School attended 94.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.0% 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, 1.0% of pupils at Bolney CofE 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 Bolney CofE Primary School had 18.9 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, 10.4% of pupils at Bolney CofE Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 7.5% 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 Bolney CofE Primary School received £7,774 and spent £7,313 for each of its 106 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £81,000 (£767 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 Haywards Heath · West Sussex local authority: places and applications

What is Bolney CofE Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bolney CofE Primary School is Good, from an inspection in April 2025.

When was Bolney CofE Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Bolney CofE Primary School was last inspected in April 2025.

How many pupils does Bolney CofE Primary School have?

Bolney CofE Primary School has 106 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bolney CofE Primary School cover?

Bolney CofE Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

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

Where is Bolney CofE Primary School?

Bolney CofE Primary School is at Church Lane, Bolney, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH17 5QP.