Whitley Village School

Whitley Village School is a small, friendly village primary of 77 pupils that has just received its first routine section 5 inspection. Inspectors found a nurturing, family-like school where pupils feel a strong sense of belonging, behave exceptionally well and achieve well. The quality of education is good, while behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management and early years provision are all outstanding. The school is part of The Rowan Learning Trust, which maintains strong oversight while allowing the school autonomy over its curriculum.

Strengths

• Pupils behave exceptionally well, showing high levels of respect and self-regulation
• A caring, family-like ethos where adults know pupils well and older pupils look after younger ones
• An exciting, well-ordered curriculum with clear ambition for all, including disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND
• Early identification of SEND is an absolute priority, with well-trained staff making skilful adaptations
• A highly effective phonics programme that produces fluent readers by the end of key stage 1
• A strong culture of reading for pleasure, with older pupils avid and knowledgeable readers
• High attendance and punctuality achieved through strong work with families
• A carefully designed wider curriculum that broadens pupils' understanding of other cultures and beliefs
• Professional development for staff is a high priority, and staff feel leaders put their wellbeing first
• Exceptional engagement with parents as partners in their children's education
• Trustees and governors know the school very well and are involved in strategic direction
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• In a minority of foundation subjects, learning activities do not consistently help pupils build new knowledge on what they already know
• Some staff are not yet equipped to design activities that deepen existing knowledge across the curriculum

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 Whitley Village School attended 96.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.9% 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 Whitley Village 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 Whitley Village School had 20.1 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, 19.5% of pupils at Whitley Village School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.3% 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 Whitley Village School received £8,624 and spent £8,063 for each of its 75 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £68,000 (£910 per pupil).

Across all 11 schools of The Rowan Learning Trust, income was £7,984 and spending £7,872 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 Warrington · Cheshire West and Chester local authority: places and applications

Whitley Village School is part of The Rowan Learning Trust, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

• Plantation Primary School Liverpool
• Prescot Primary School Prescot
• The Acorns Primary and Nursery School Ellesmere Port
• Hawkley Hall High School Wigan
• Marus Bridge Primary School Wigan
• Orrell Holgate Academy Wigan
• Orrell Lamberhead Green Academy Wigan
• Kirkby High School Liverpool
• The Heys School Manchester
• Farington Primary School Leyland

What is Whitley Village School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Whitley Village School is Good, from an inspection in October 2024.

When was Whitley Village School last inspected by Ofsted?

Whitley Village School was last inspected in October 2024.

How many pupils does Whitley Village School have?

Whitley Village School has 77 pupils on roll.

What age range does Whitley Village School cover?

Whitley Village School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Whitley Village School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 80% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Whitley Village School?

Whitley Village School is at Village Lane, Lower Whitley, Warrington, Cheshire, WA4 4QH.