Altarnun Primary School

Altarnun Primary School has made considerable progress since its previous inspection, moving from a grade of Requires Improvement to a Good overall grade. The school prides itself on creating a warm and welcoming environment where pupils feel safe and valued. Leaders have high expectations and focus on developing pupils into well-rounded learners. Despite some areas of success, such as reading and personal development, there are still challenges with curriculum planning, particularly in subjects like history, which need more coherence.

Strengths

• Pupils enjoy coming to school and feel safe.
• Leaders have high expectations for all pupils.
• There is a strong focus on reading from the start of Reception.
• Pupils are polite, courteous, and behave well.
• Teachers demonstrate secure subject knowledge.
• Effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• A good start provided for children in the early years.

Areas for Improvement

• Variability in the quality of pupils' work, especially in key stage 2.
• Curriculum planning is not yet fully established across all subjects.
• The planned curriculum is not aspirational enough for all pupils, particularly the more able.
• Outdoor learning areas in early years are not well developed.

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 Altarnun Primary School attended 95.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.0% 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 Altarnun 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 Altarnun Primary School had 11.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 10.6% of pupils at Altarnun Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.0% 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 2024–25 Altarnun Primary School received £8,613 and spent £9,198 for each of its 51 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £34,000 (£674 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Athena Learning Trust, income was £8,447 and spending £8,351 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 Launceston · Cornwall local authority: places and applications

Altarnun Primary School is part of Athena Learning Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• Egloskerry Primary School Launceston
• Launceston College Launceston
• Launceston Primary School Launceston
• Atlantic Academy Bideford
• Bideford College Bideford
• Pool Academy Redruth
• Camborne Science and International Academy Camborne
• The Ilfracombe Church of England Academy Ilfracombe

What is Altarnun Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Altarnun Primary School is Good, from an inspection in July 2025.

When was Altarnun Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Altarnun Primary School was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does Altarnun Primary School have?

Altarnun Primary School has 47 pupils on roll.

What age range does Altarnun Primary School cover?

Altarnun Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 64% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Altarnun Primary School?

Altarnun Primary School is at Five Lanes, Altarnun, Launceston, Cornwall, PL15 7RZ.