Brownhills West Primary School

Brownhills West Primary School is a caring, nurturing school where pupils are safe, happy and keen to learn. This was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first inspection under section 5 in its current form as an academy within the Central Co-operative Learning Trust. Inspectors found the school performing well across education quality, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision, with effective safeguarding arrangements.

Strengths

• Pupils thrive in a caring and nurturing environment underpinned by the DREAM BIG values of belonging, responsibility and ambition.
• Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum that meets pupils' needs, with reading, writing and mathematics now a strength.
• Early years provision is a strength, with children settling quickly in a purposeful, vibrant environment and achieving well.
• Reading is a school priority, with well-trained staff supporting early readers and a positive reading culture across the school.
• Pupils with SEND are swiftly identified, effectively supported and learn successfully alongside their peers.
• Behaviour in lessons and around school is strong, and pupils enjoy positive playtimes with activities shaped by the school council.
• Personal development is well promoted through safety education, roles and responsibilities, and learning about faiths, beliefs and respect.
• Staff are proud to work at the school, feel valued by leaders, governors and the trust, and value professional development opportunities.
• Members of the local governing body and trust know the school well and are frequent visitors.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum review and checks on the impact of learning are at an early stage in some foundation subjects, so the school cannot yet be sure pupils are learning the intended curriculum.
• Some pupils do not attend school regularly enough, meaning they miss important learning and wider experiences.

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 Brownhills West Primary School attended 91.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 24.8% 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, 4.2% of pupils at Brownhills West Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Brownhills West Primary School had 18.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.4% 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, 27.9% of pupils at Brownhills West Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.2% 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 Brownhills West Primary School received £8,145 and spent £7,653 for each of its 181 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £68,000 (£376 per pupil).

Across all 9 schools of Central Co-Operative Learning Trust, income was £6,831 and spending £6,583 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 Walsall · Walsall local authority: places and applications

Brownhills West Primary School is part of Central Co-Operative Learning Trust, which runs 9 schools. The nearest others:

• Greenfield Primary School Walsall
• Blackwood School Sutton Coldfield
• Redbrook Hayes Community Primary School Rugeley
• Grange School Burton-On-Trent
• Burton Fields School Burton-On-Trent
• Outwoods Primary School Burton-On-Trent
• John of Rolleston Primary School Burton-On-Trent
• William Shrewsbury Primary School Burton-On-Trent

What is Brownhills West Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Brownhills West Primary School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Brownhills West Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Brownhills West Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Brownhills West Primary School have?

Brownhills West Primary School has 190 pupils on roll.

What age range does Brownhills West Primary School cover?

Brownhills West Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

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

In 2025, 55% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Brownhills West Primary School?

Brownhills West Primary School is at Shannon Drive, Brownhills, Walsall, West Midlands, WS8 7LA.