Bunwell Primary School

Bunwell Primary School is a small primary in Norfolk and part of Co-Operative Education East. This inspection found the school performing well: all key judgements moved to Good, up from Requires improvement at the previous inspection, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The report highlights a welcoming, kind and nurturing ethos at the heart of the local community, with strong pastoral support and positive relationships between pupils and staff. This was also the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic. Pupils behave well, understand the school’s ‘ready, respectful and safe’ values, and benefit from a wide range of experiences that support their personal development. Reading is a particular strength, with a systematic phonics approach, regular checks and extra support helping pupils become fluent and confident readers. Pupils with SEND are identified effectively and well supported, and staff are proud to work at the school, with governance and trust support providing effective challenge and strategic direction. The main areas for improvement concern curriculum delivery. In some subjects, teachers’ checks on what pupils know and remember are not secure enough, so misconceptions can go unchallenged and recall can be patchy. Learning activities do not always build precisely on prior knowledge or match the intended learning, which can hinder progress for some pupils. The school needs to make its checks and curriculum delivery consistently effective across all subjects.

Strengths

• Welcoming, kind and nurturing ethos at the heart of the local community
• Strong pastoral support and focus on pupils’ well-being
• Clear behaviour expectations and routines that pupils understand and follow
• Effective early reading and phonics teaching with regular checks and targeted support
• Ambitious curriculum with identified knowledge, skills and vocabulary across subjects
• Effective identification and support for pupils with SEND
• Well-considered personal development provision, including British values and relationships education
• Positive staff morale, with leaders managing workload and well-being
• Governors and trustees are well informed and provide effective challenge and support

Areas for Improvement

• Checks on what pupils know and remember are not secure across all subjects
• Pupils’ misconceptions sometimes go unchallenged, leading to patchy recall
• Learning activities do not always precisely match the intended learning
• Curriculum delivery is not consistently strong enough to help all pupils build on prior knowledge
• Staffing restructure across the trust schools is unsettling for staff, pupils and parents, although transition plans are in place

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 Bunwell Primary School attended 94.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 20.3% 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, 5.7% of pupils at Bunwell 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 Bunwell Primary School had 14.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 40.0% 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, 20.5% of pupils at Bunwell Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.7% 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 Bunwell Primary School received £8,503 and spent £8,472 for each of its 87 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £103,000 (£1,188 per pupil).

Across all 3 schools of Co-Operative Education East, income was £7,963 and spending £8,101 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 Norwich · Norfolk local authority: places and applications

Bunwell Primary School is part of Co-Operative Education East, which runs 3 schools. The nearest others:

• Banham Primary School Norwich
• Thompson Primary School Thetford

What is Bunwell Primary School's Ofsted rating?

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

When was Bunwell Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Bunwell Primary School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Bunwell Primary School have?

Bunwell Primary School has 73 pupils on roll.

What age range does Bunwell Primary School cover?

Bunwell Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 25% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Bunwell Primary School?

Bunwell Primary School is at The Turnpike, Bunwell, Norwich, Norfolk, NR16 1SN.