Bowness Primary School

Bowness Primary School continues to be a good school, characterized by a warm and welcoming environment where pupils feel valued and safe. The school's leadership has maintained high expectations for all pupils, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), ensuring they receive appropriate support. The curriculum is ambitious and effectively designed to build knowledge over time, preparing pupils well for future educational stages. The school also emphasizes the importance of reading, embedding it at the core of learning.

Strengths

• Pupils feel happy and safe, treated with kindness and respect.
• Strong subject knowledge among teachers enhances curriculum delivery.
• Establishment of effective systems to support pupils with SEND.
• A well-developed phonics programme that supports early reading skills.
• Active engagement of pupils in a variety of clubs and leadership roles.

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils do not attend school regularly, impacting their learning.

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 Bowness Primary School attended 91.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 27.4% 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, 4.0% of pupils at Bowness 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 Bowness Primary School had 15.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 60.0% 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, 22.5% of pupils at Bowness Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 8.5% 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 Bowness Primary School received £7,933 and spent £7,665 for each of its 124 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £88,000 (£709 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Prestolee Multi Academy Trust, income was £6,887 and spending £6,506 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 Bolton · Bolton local authority: places and applications

Bowness Primary School is part of Prestolee Multi Academy Trust, which runs 10 schools. The nearest others:

• Prestolee Primary School Manchester
• Mesne Lea Primary School Manchester
• The Derby High School Lancs
• Tottington Primary School Bury
• Springside Primary School Bury
• Barton Moss Community Primary School Manchester
• Fiddlers Lane Community Primary School Salford
• Waterloo Primary School Ashton-Under-Lyne
• Hollingworth Primary School Hyde

What is Bowness Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Bowness Primary School is Good, from an inspection in September 2023.

When was Bowness Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Bowness Primary School was last inspected in September 2023.

How many pupils does Bowness Primary School have?

Bowness Primary School has 129 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bowness Primary School cover?

Bowness Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 86% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Bowness Primary School?

Bowness Primary School is at Church Street, Little Lever, Bolton, Lancashire, BL3 1BT.