Honeybourne Primary Academy

Honeybourne Primary Academy is performing well overall. Inspectors found good provision across the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years, with safeguarding arrangements judged effective. Pupils are happy, safe and well behaved, they enjoy learning, and they achieve well because the school has high expectations. Many pupils read and solve mathematical problems to an age-appropriate standard by the time they leave, and pupils with SEND are well supported and included. The school has undergone significant change in recent years. It joined the Black Pear Trust in December 2023 and has a new headteacher, and leaders have worked with the trust to introduce a new curriculum supported by high-quality staff training. Staff feel well supported in their workload and well-being, and most parents have seen positive changes. Pupils benefit from a broad personal development offer, including leadership roles, visits, charity work and learning about rights, responsibilities and different faiths and cultures. There are two main areas for improvement. Writing is still at an early stage of development: some key stage 1 pupils are not consistently well supported to form letters, spell or punctuate at an age-appropriate level, and some key stage 2 pupils are not consistently supported to apply grammar and punctuation correctly, which affects fluent writing. In addition, a significant minority of parents do not understand the school’s work or feel their concerns are addressed, so the school needs to strengthen partnership with these parents. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Strengths

• Pupils feel happy and safe and form strong relationships with staff and each other.
• Pupils behave well, are motivated in their learning and show increasing resilience.
• The school has high expectations and pupils achieve well, including in reading and mathematics.
• A new curriculum has been implemented with high-quality staff training and trust support.
• Pupils develop in-depth subject knowledge and staff check understanding effectively.
• Pupils develop a love of reading, and those who fall behind receive effective support.
• Pupils with SEND are well supported, included in all learning and identified early.
• Personal development is strong, with pupil voice, leadership roles, visits and charity work.
• Children in the early years get off to a good start and learn to read from their first days.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Writing is at an early stage of development, and some pupils are not consistently supported to write to an age-appropriate standard.
• Some key stage 1 pupils are not consistently well supported to form letters accurately, spell or punctuate sentences.
• Some key stage 2 pupils are not consistently supported to apply grammar and punctuation correctly, affecting fluent writing.
• A significant minority of parents do not understand the school’s work or feel their concerns are addressed.

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 Honeybourne Primary Academy attended 94.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 13.9% 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, 1.3% of pupils at Honeybourne Primary Academy 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 Honeybourne Primary Academy had 23.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.3% 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, 23.7% of pupils at Honeybourne Primary Academy were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.9% 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 Honeybourne Primary Academy received £6,675 and spent £6,848 for each of its 228 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £108,000 (£471 per pupil).

Across all 8 schools of The Black Pear Trust, income was £7,808 and spending £7,915 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.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Evesham · Worcestershire local authority: places and applications

Honeybourne Primary Academy is part of The Black Pear Trust, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• Carnforth School Worcester
• Hollymount School Worcester
• The Orchards School Bromsgrove
• Woodrush High School Wythall
• St George's CofE School Kidderminster
• Brockhampton Primary School Bromyard
• Upper Arley CofE Primary School Bewdley

What is Honeybourne Primary Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Honeybourne Primary Academy is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Honeybourne Primary Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Honeybourne Primary Academy was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Honeybourne Primary Academy have?

Honeybourne Primary Academy has 232 pupils on roll.

What age range does Honeybourne Primary Academy cover?

Honeybourne Primary Academy for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Honeybourne Primary Academy's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 63% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Honeybourne Primary Academy?

Honeybourne Primary Academy is at School Street, Honeybourne, Evesham, Worcestershire, WR11 7PJ.