Harwood Meadows Primary School

Harwood Meadows Primary School is meeting expected standards across all inspected areas. It is a friendly, nurturing single academy trust school where pupils feel safe, behave well and attend regularly. Leaders have made reading a central priority, and phonics teaching is effective; pupils generally become fluent readers, and attainment in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6 is broadly in line with national averages. The broad, ambitious curriculum, strong SEND support and rich personal development offer are notable strengths. Safeguarding standards are met. The main area for improvement is writing. Although writing outcomes have been above national averages in recent years, provision is variable: a small number of pupils do not write fluently, some teaching does not build well enough on prior learning, and for a minority of pupils learning is not broken into small enough steps. In the early years, staff interactions during play do not consistently deepen children's language and understanding, and expectations are not always consistently high enough to build independence. Leadership is generally strong, with high-quality staff development and swift responses to the school's changing context. However, leaders and trustees are not precise enough in using pupil premium funding to reduce barriers for disadvantaged pupils, and trustees do not evaluate its impact sharply enough to hold leaders fully to account. Overall, this is a school performing at the expected standard, with clear strengths and a focused set of next steps.

Strengths

• Pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, learn effectively and make secure progress across a range of subjects.
• Reading is prioritised, phonics teaching is effective, and pupils become fluent and accurate readers.
• Attainment in reading, writing and mathematics by the end of Year 6 is broadly in line with national averages.
• Attendance is typically in line with national averages, supported by careful analysis and work with families.
• Pupils behave well, are polite and respectful, and bullying or discrimination is addressed promptly.
• The curriculum is broad and ambitious and has been strengthened since the previous inspection.
• Pupils with SEND are well supported through clear strategies, training and specialist advice.
• Leaders provide high-quality pastoral support and a wide range of enrichment and leadership opportunities.
• Personal development is strong, with pupils learning about safety, relationships, financial education and community contribution.
• Staff benefit from high-quality, evidence-informed professional development, and leaders support their wellbeing and workload.
• Early years children make a secure start and most are ready for Year 1.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' success in writing is variable, and a small number do not write with fluency, hindering achievement in other subjects.
• Some teaching approaches in writing do not build well enough on pupils' prior learning.
• For a minority of pupils, teachers do not break learning into small enough steps to develop writing fluency, independence and stamina.
• In early years, staff interactions during play do not consistently extend and deepen children's language and understanding.
• Staff expectations in early years are not consistently high, limiting children's independence and use of the learning environment.
• Leaders and trustees are not precise enough in identifying how pupil premium funding will reduce barriers for disadvantaged pupils.
• Trustees do not evaluate the impact of additional funding sharply enough and are not confident in holding leaders to account for disadvantaged pupils' achievement.

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 Harwood Meadows Primary School attended 94.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.3% 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, 1.8% of pupils at Harwood Meadows 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 Harwood Meadows Primary School had 24.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 17.2% 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, 15.6% of pupils at Harwood Meadows Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.7% 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 2024–25 Harwood Meadows Primary School received £6,816 and spent £6,657 for each of its 215 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £209,000 (£974 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). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

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What is Harwood Meadows Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Harwood Meadows Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Harwood Meadows Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Harwood Meadows Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Harwood Meadows Primary School have?

Harwood Meadows Primary School has 224 pupils on roll.

What age range does Harwood Meadows Primary School cover?

Harwood Meadows Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

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

Where is Harwood Meadows Primary School?

Harwood Meadows Primary School is at Orchard Gardens, Harwood, Bolton, Lancashire, BL2 3PS.