Puss Bank School and Nursery

Puss Bank School and Nursery is a larger-than-average primary and nursery, part of The Aspire Educational Trust, that is performing at the expected standard overall. Safeguarding standards are met. Leaders have managed significant staffing and leadership changes and a changing pupil profile, including fewer pupils on roll and more pupils with SEND, while maintaining a calm, inclusive and well-supported school. Pupils are happy, safe and attend well; behaviour is positive, bullying is rare, and the school's inclusive culture and pastoral care are notable strengths. The curriculum is generally well sequenced, reading is a particular strength, and children in the early years get off to a strong start. Pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are identified and supported well, including in the specially resourced autism provision, and personal development is broad and well planned. National outcomes are broadly typical overall, although mathematics has been weaker over recent years and disadvantaged pupils' outcomes and gaps remain a concern despite recent improvement. The main areas for further work are to strengthen staff subject knowledge and misconception-checking in a very small number of subjects, to embed mathematics improvements so that pupils, especially disadvantaged pupils, achieve well, and to ensure early years self-chosen activities are consistently purposeful. The newer mainstream provision for pupils with more complex needs is at an earlier stage of development.

Strengths

• Inclusive and caring school culture with strong pastoral support.
• Pupils feel safe, happy and well looked after.
• Positive behaviour built on the school's four promises, with bullying rare.
• Most pupils attend regularly, and leaders act quickly when attendance drops.
• Well-sequenced curriculum with a strong focus on early reading.
• Reading is taught effectively, and pupils learn to read with fluency and confidence.
• Early years provision gives children a positive start, especially in language and phonics.
• Strong inclusion and effective support for pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils.
• The specially resourced autism provision helps pupils make clear progress from their starting points.
• Leaders, governors and the trust work well together and understand the school's priorities.
• Staff workload and wellbeing are prioritised, with well-supported professional development.
• Broad personal development programme and a wide range of clubs, trips and pupil responsibilities.
• Parents value the school's inclusive culture and pastoral care.

Areas for Improvement

• Mathematics outcomes have been below average in recent years, and improvements are not yet reflected in national test results.
• Disadvantaged pupils' outcomes and gaps remain below national averages in reading, writing and mathematics, despite some narrowing.
• Teaching is less consistent in a small number of subjects, where some staff have less secure subject knowledge.
• In some subjects, teachers do not routinely identify and address pupils' misconceptions, so knowledge is less secure.
• Some self-chosen early years activities lack clear purpose, limiting learning for some children.
• The newer mainstream provision for pupils with more complex needs is at an earlier stage of development.

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 Puss Bank School and Nursery attended 94.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.7% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Puss Bank School and Nursery 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 Puss Bank School and Nursery had 20.3 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, 12.5% of pupils at Puss Bank School and Nursery were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 8.6% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has resourced provision with 11 pupils.

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 Puss Bank School and Nursery received £7,344 and spent £7,596 for each of its 391 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £176,000 (£450 per pupil).

Across all 13 schools of The Aspire Educational Trust, income was £6,867 and spending £6,913 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 Macclesfield · Cheshire East local authority: places and applications

Puss Bank School and Nursery is part of The Aspire Educational Trust, which runs 13 schools. The nearest others:

• Hurdsfield Community Primary School and Nursery Macclesfield
• Parkroyal Community School Macclesfield
• Ash Grove Academy Macclesfield
• Hollinhey Primary School Macclesfield
• Ivy Bank Primary School Macclesfield
• The Wilmslow Academy Wilmslow
• Peover Superior Endowed Primary School Knutsford
• Holmes Chapel Primary School Crewe
• Sandbach Primary Academy Sandbach
• Wilbraham Primary School Manchester

What is Puss Bank School and Nursery's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Puss Bank School and Nursery is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Puss Bank School and Nursery last inspected by Ofsted?

Puss Bank School and Nursery was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Puss Bank School and Nursery have?

Puss Bank School and Nursery has 409 pupils on roll.

What age range does Puss Bank School and Nursery cover?

Puss Bank School and Nursery for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Puss Bank School and Nursery's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 69% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Puss Bank School and Nursery?

Puss Bank School and Nursery is at Barracks Lane, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK10 1QJ.