Cherry Fold Community Primary School

Cherry Fold Community Primary is a welcoming, caring school where pupils are happy and new arrivals, including those who speak English as an additional language, settle quickly. Personal development is a clear strength: pupils take part in clubs and special events, learn about well-being, safety and values, and benefit from the pupil passport. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The school has an ambitious vision and has made some positive curriculum changes, and early reading is prioritised from Nursery.

Strengths

• Welcoming and caring ethos where pupils are happy and new pupils settle quickly
• Strong personal development provision, including clubs, special events and the pupil passport
• Pupils learn about well-being, safety, relationships and important values
• Early reading is prioritised from Nursery, with well-trained staff teaching phonics
• Pupils with SEND are identified quickly and supported to access the curriculum
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Pupils generally behave well at breaktimes and play cooperatively
• Attendance strategies have led to a small improvement in overall attendance
• Governors are considerate of staff workload and well-being

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum implementation is inconsistent across subjects and classes
• Activities and resources do not always help pupils remember new learning
• Assessment information is not used well enough to close gaps in pupils' knowledge
• Pupils' attainment in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6 has been below average for some time
• Some pupils have limited vocabulary, which affects their confidence to speak and learning across the curriculum
• Early years provision is not implemented well enough for some children to be ready for Year 1
• Persistent absence remains high despite some improvement in overall attendance
• Behaviour expectations are inconsistent, and a small but significant minority of pupils disrupt learning
• Governors are only beginning to challenge the school and gain assurance that systems are working

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 Cherry Fold Community Primary School attended 91.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 28.6% 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, 3.9% of pupils at Cherry Fold Community 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 Cherry Fold Community Primary School had 18.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.7% 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, 21.6% of pupils at Cherry Fold Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 9.6% 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 Cherry Fold Community Primary School received £9,300 and spent £9,552 for each of its 358 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £231,000 (£645 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 Burnley · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

What is Cherry Fold Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Cherry Fold Community Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Cherry Fold Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Cherry Fold Community Primary School was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Cherry Fold Community Primary School have?

Cherry Fold Community Primary School has 366 pupils on roll.

What age range does Cherry Fold Community Primary School cover?

Cherry Fold Community Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Cherry Fold Community Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 55% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Cherry Fold Community Primary School?

Cherry Fold Community Primary School is at Cog Lane, Burnley, Lancashire, BB11 5JS.