St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth

St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth is a welcoming and ambitious school where pupils, including those in the early years, behave well and achieve well. Inspectors found the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, and leadership and management to be good, with early years provision outstanding. Children in the two-year-old provision get an exceptionally strong start, and staff identify and support SEND needs effectively. Phonics is taught consistently, and new arrivals, including pupils learning English as an additional language, pick it up quickly. Pupils benefit from strong personal development and community opportunities, and safeguarding is effective. The school has high expectations, including for pupils with SEND, and most pupils who attend for the majority of their primary education are well prepared for secondary school. Published 2024 Year 6 reading attainment was significantly below the national average, but inspectors noted that this reflects significant disruption from COVID-19 and the number of pupils who joined mid-phase or were new to English. The main areas for improvement are in a small number of subjects: some teachers' learning activities do not consistently build on what pupils already know, and some pupils have gaps from weaknesses in the previous curriculum that have not been identified or addressed. This can stop pupils deepening their knowledge and making sense of new learning. The school is part of the Archbishop Temple Multi Academy Trust and has a high proportion of pupils with EHC plans.

Strengths

• Early years provision is outstanding, giving children, including two-year-olds, an exceptional start.
• Staff identify and meet the additional needs of pupils with SEND accurately and at an early stage.
• Phonics is prioritised and delivered consistently, helping new arrivals and EAL pupils become fluent readers.
• Pupils behave well, and learning is rarely interrupted.
• Pupils' personal development is carefully planned, including opportunities that bring British values to life.
• Governance and trust oversight are effective, with a strong focus on the quality of education.
• Leaders have effective systems to reduce persistent absence.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Staff workload is kept manageable, allowing them to focus on pupils' learning.
• Pupils who attend for the majority of their primary education are well prepared for secondary school.

Areas for Improvement

• In one or two subjects, some teachers' learning activities do not effectively build on pupils' prior knowledge.
• In a small number of subjects, some pupils have unaddressed gaps in knowledge from the previous curriculum.
• Some pupils do not deepen their understanding as well as they could because learning activities do not consistently connect new learning to prior knowledge.
• Unresolved gaps in knowledge can hinder some pupils' ability to make sense of new 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 St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth attended 92.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 21.5% 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 St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). 5 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 St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth had 25.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 32.1% 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, 16.5% of pupils at St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.6% 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 St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth received £7,104 and spent £7,628 for each of its 345 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £673,000 (£1,953 per pupil).

Across all 5 schools of Archbishop Temple Church of England Multi Academy Trust, income was £6,406 and spending £6,397 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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• Secondary Schools

All schools in Bolton · Bolton local authority: places and applications

St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth is part of Archbishop Temple Church of England Multi Academy Trust, which runs 5 schools. The nearest others:

• St John Church of England Primary School, Farnworth Bolton
• Bishop Bridgeman CofE Primary School Bolton
• Bolton Parish Church, Church of England Primary School Bolton
• St Maxentius CofE Primary School Bolton

What is St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth last inspected by Ofsted?

St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth have?

St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth has 357 pupils on roll.

What age range does St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth cover?

St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 67% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth?

St James CofE Primary School, Farnworth is at Hillside Avenue, Farnworth, Bolton, Lancashire, BL4 9QB.