Pear Tree Primary School

Pear Tree Primary School is a caring, inclusive school where pupils feel safe, happy and valued, and where they achieve well overall. Inspectors found that pupils, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, develop secure knowledge in reading, writing and mathematics and produce high-quality work; outcomes in reading and mathematics are above national figures, and disadvantaged pupils generally achieve above their peers nationally. Attendance is strong, persistent absence is below national levels, and pupils behave well and treat each other respectfully. Early years is a particular strength: children settle quickly, benefit from a well-sequenced curriculum and make a successful start to school. Leadership has improved recently, with leaders working closely with the trust and governors to review the curriculum, prioritise reading and support staff development. Staff wellbeing is considered, and pupils benefit from a broad personal development offer including trips, music, sport and leadership roles. Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils trust adults to respond quickly to concerns. However, not all pupils achieve as highly as they could. Teachers do not consistently check pupils' understanding closely enough, so some gaps and misconceptions remain unresolved. Leaders also have a less developed understanding of the specific barriers faced by disadvantaged pupils, and the impact of pupil premium actions is not yet consistently evaluated. The next steps focus on these areas.

Strengths

• Early years provision is well structured, clearly sequenced and adapted to children's needs.
• Children in Reception settle quickly, feel safe and make good progress across areas of learning.
• Early reading, writing and number skills are taught daily and reinforced through play.
• Pupils achieve well overall, with reading and mathematics outcomes above national figures.
• Disadvantaged pupils generally achieve above their peers nationally.
• Pupils, including those with SEND, secure important knowledge and produce high-quality work.
• Attendance is strong and persistent absence is consistently below national levels.
• Pupils behave well, build respectful relationships and respond quickly to bullying concerns.
• Reading is prioritised, with effective phonics and fluent older readers.
• Staff understand SEND and social care needs and provide effective targeted support.
• Recent leadership changes have had a positive impact and staff feel supported.
• Governors and trust provide effective support and challenge.
• Personal development is broad, including trips, music, sport and pupil leadership.
• Safeguarding standards are met and pupils feel safe.
• Pupils describe the school as like a family and older pupils act as positive role models.

Areas for Improvement

• Teachers do not consistently check pupils' understanding closely enough to identify and address gaps in knowledge.
• Some misconceptions remain unresolved, so a small number of pupils do not achieve as highly as they could.
• Leaders' understanding of the specific needs and barriers faced by disadvantaged pupils is less well developed.
• Pupil premium barriers are not clearly identified and actions to address them are not implemented consistently or evaluated effectively.
• Leaders are still developing approaches to evaluate the impact of interventions.

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 Pear Tree Primary School attended 96.3% 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, 0.5% of pupils at Pear Tree 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 Pear Tree Primary School had 23.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 49.4% 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, 11.7% of pupils at Pear Tree Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 8.4% 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 Pear Tree Primary School received £6,645 and spent £7,139 for each of its 211 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £81,000 (£385 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of The Cornovii Trust, income was £7,309 and spending £7,287 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 Nantwich · Cheshire East local authority: places and applications

Pear Tree Primary School is part of The Cornovii Trust, which runs 8 schools. The nearest others:

• Brine Leas School Nantwich
• Stapeley Broad Lane CofE Primary School Nantwich
• Malbank School and Sixth Form College Nantwich
• Weston Village Primary School Crewe
• Audlem St James' CofE Primary School Crewe
• Alsager School Stoke-On-Trent
• Alsager Highfields Community Primary School Stoke-On-Trent

What is Pear Tree Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Pear Tree Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Pear Tree Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Pear Tree Primary School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Pear Tree Primary School have?

Pear Tree Primary School has 214 pupils on roll.

What age range does Pear Tree Primary School cover?

Pear Tree Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 75% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Pear Tree Primary School?

Pear Tree Primary School is at Pear Tree Field, Stapeley, Nantwich, Cheshire, CW5 7GZ.