Barn Croft Primary School

Barn Croft Primary School has moved on well since its previous inspection and is now performing securely across education, behaviour, personal development, leadership and early years. It is a friendly, welcoming school at the heart of its community, with high expectations for pupils’ learning and behaviour. Pupils work hard, achieve well and understand the school’s ‘ready, respectful, safe’ expectations. They feel happy and safe, and they benefit from strong emotional and mental health support. The curriculum is broad and well constructed, with learning sequenced to build on prior knowledge, and reading and vocabulary are prioritised from early years onwards. Pupils’ personal development is a notable strength, including leadership roles, educational visits and work on healthy relationships and citizenship. Attendance is improving through effective support for families, and staff are positive about leadership, professional development and workload. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main areas for improvement are that a few subjects are at an earlier stage of curriculum design and implementation, and assessment is not used consistently well to check prior understanding. As a result, some pupils’ knowledge is less secure than intended. In addition, support strategies for some pupils with SEND are not sufficiently matched to their specific needs, which limits how well some access the curriculum. The headteacher has been in post since January 2025, and the school currently has no overall effectiveness grade under the current inspection framework.

Strengths

• Friendly, welcoming school at the heart of the local community
• Ambitious mission and high expectations for pupils’ learning and citizenship
• Broad, well-constructed curriculum sequenced to build on prior knowledge
• Strong focus on communication, language and vocabulary from early years
• Effective phonics teaching and support for pupils who need to catch up in reading
• Positive reading culture with diverse books and immersive storytelling opportunities
• Warm and inviting early years provision with effective outdoor learning
• Quick identification of pupils with SEND
• Pupils behave well and are polite, respectful and safe
• Strong personal development through visits, leadership roles and citizenship activities
• Effective work to improve attendance and support families
• Knowledgeable leadership and governance providing appropriate support and challenge
• Staff are overwhelmingly positive about their workplace, CPD and workload consideration
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum in a few subjects is at an earlier stage of design and implementation and not fully embedded
• Assessment is not used consistently well to check pupils’ prior understanding
• Some pupils’ knowledge is less secure because gaps in prior learning are not always identified and addressed
• Strategies to support some pupils with SEND are not sufficiently focused on their specific needs
• Some pupils with SEND are less well supported to access the curriculum and achieve well

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 Barn Croft Primary School attended 96.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.9% 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, 1.1% of pupils at Barn Croft 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 Barn Croft Primary School had 16.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 73.4% 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, 17.6% of pupils at Barn Croft Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 11.2% 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 Barn Croft Primary School received £9,514 and spent £10,619 for each of its 170 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £472,000 (-£2,778 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 Waltham Forest · Waltham Forest local authority: places and applications

What is Barn Croft Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Barn Croft Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Barn Croft Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Barn Croft Primary School was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Barn Croft Primary School have?

Barn Croft Primary School has 170 pupils on roll.

What age range does Barn Croft Primary School cover?

Barn Croft Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 68% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Barn Croft Primary School?

Barn Croft Primary School is at 2 Brunel Road, Walthamstow, London, E17 8SB.