Franche Primary School

Franche Primary School is a large community primary that received its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pupils are happy, friendly and attend regularly, and the school’s caring ethos helps them feel safe. Behaviour and personal development are strong, early years provision gives children a positive start, and safeguarding is effective. Reading has been a priority and current pupils are making better progress, especially in early reading and phonics. However, the quality of education and leadership are not yet consistently good. Expectations of what pupils can achieve are too low in some areas, most notably writing, where older pupils’ spelling, handwriting, punctuation and extended writing are weak. Curriculum delivery is uneven in some foundation subjects and in Reception, and teachers do not always check understanding closely enough to address misconceptions and gaps. Some pupils with SEND are not identified or supported quickly or accurately enough in English and mathematics. The school has begun to address weaknesses following an unsettled period and has made successful changes, particularly in reading. It now needs to raise expectations, tighten curriculum implementation and assessment, and improve writing and SEND identification so that all pupils achieve well across the curriculum.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, friendly and attend regularly.
• The caring, nurturing ethos helps pupils feel safe and builds positive relationships, starting in the two-year-old provision.
• Behaviour is good: the school is calm and orderly, and suspensions have reduced dramatically.
• Early reading and phonics are taught effectively, with well-matched books and strong catch-up support.
• Personal development is strong, with a wide range of clubs, trips, responsibilities and learning about equality and safety.
• Early years children get a positive start, including effective communication and language support and well-resourced environments.
• Staff are effective at identifying and meeting speech, language and social, emotional and mental health needs.
• Governors provide effective challenge and support, and staff workload and wellbeing are considered.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Expectations of pupils’ achievement are not consistently high enough across subjects.
• Writing is a significant weakness, especially for older pupils, with poor spelling, handwriting, punctuation and limited extended writing.
• Curriculum delivery is inconsistent in some foundation subjects, with insufficient time, coverage and depth.
• Teachers do not routinely check pupils’ understanding closely enough, so misconceptions and gaps go unaddressed.
• Some Reception tasks lack a clear learning focus, which limits children’s preparation for Year 1.
• Some pupils with SEND have academic needs in English and mathematics identified too slowly or inaccurately.

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 Franche Primary School attended 94.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.3% 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, 0.2% of pupils at Franche 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 Franche Primary School had 17.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.4% 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, 28.1% of pupils at Franche Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.0% 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 Franche Primary School received £8,402 and spent £8,680 for each of its 726 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £198,000 (£273 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 Kidderminster · Worcestershire local authority: places and applications

What is Franche Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Franche Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Franche Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Franche Primary School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Franche Primary School have?

Franche Primary School has 726 pupils on roll.

What age range does Franche Primary School cover?

Franche Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 62% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Franche Primary School?

Franche Primary School is at Chestnut Grove, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, DY11 5QB.