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The Acorns Primary and Nursery School

Primary Ages 2-11 356 pupils Ellesmere Port
Ofsted: Good

The Acorns Primary and Nursery School is an academy converter in Ellesmere Port for pupils aged 2 to 11. It has 356 pupils on roll. The latest Ofsted rating for The Acorns Primary and Nursery School is Good, from an inspection in February 2018 of its predecessor, The Acorns Primary and Nursery School. In 2025, 56% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Ofsted inspection: July 2025. KS2 results: 2025.

Type Primary / Academy converter
Age Range 2-11
Religion Does not apply
Address Pooltown Road
Ellesmere Port
Cheshire
CH65 7ED
Phone 01513551546
Reference Number 149092

General Makeup

Number of pupils 356
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 51.69%
Girls: 48.31%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 48.5%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 10.7%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 27
Average size of Key Stage 1 classes taught by one teacher 24
Average size of Key Stage 2 classes taught by one teacher 29.5

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
1 19 19 38
2 24 19 43
3 26 20 46
4 17 24 41
5 29 17 46
6 19 25 44

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 84.3%
White, Other 5.3%
White & Black (African) 2%
Asian, Other 2%
White & Asian 1.1%
African 0.8%
Pakistani 0.8%
White & Black (Caribbean) 0.6%
Indian 0.6%
Mixed, Other 0.3%

This school has not been graded since it changed URN, usually on converting to an academy. The rating shown is from its predecessor, The Acorns Primary and Nursery School, inspected in February 2018.

Overall Ofsted Rating Good
Last Report Date 10 Jun 2025 – no overall grade published for this inspection
Date Report
10 Jun 2025 School inspection
08 Jul 2022 Academy conversion letter
14 Feb 2018 Full inspection:
Previously as The Acorns Primary and Nursery School
10 Dec 2015 Monitoring visit
16 Jun 2015 Full inspection:
30 May 2012 Full inspection:
02 Oct 2008 Full inspection:
26 Sep 2005 Full inspection:

How many students meet the standards

Reading, Writing & Maths School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Pupils meeting the expected standard 56%
Pupils meeting a higher standard 7%

Average Scaled Score

Results are converted into scaled scores to allow accurate comparisons of performance over time even if the difficulty of the test varies over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120.

Subject School Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Reading 106
Maths 104

Progress Scores

A progress score is a way to measure how well a student progressed in comparison to other students of a similar starting ability. A score of zero means would mean that a student made the same progress as others that had a similar starting a ability. A positive score would mean that the student made more progress than other students of similar starting ability. The scores below are for the whole school so is the average progress score across all students.

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Reading 0.1
Writing 3.1
Maths 1.8

How many students meet the standards

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Average Scaled Score

Results are converted into scaled scores to allow accurate comparisons of performance over time even if the difficulty of the test varies over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120.

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Progress Scores

A progress score is a way to measure how well a student progressed in comparison to other students of a similar starting ability. A score of zero means would mean that a student made the same progress as others that had a similar starting a ability. A positive score would mean that the student made more progress than other students of similar starting ability. The scores below are for the whole school so is the average progress score across all students.

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Reception admissions, 2026 entry

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 19 2
Third Preference 7 0
From another Local Authority 0 0

Previous years

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Places and pupil numbers

In 2024–25 The Acorns Primary and Nursery School had 308 pupils for 315 places. 7 places (2.2%) were unfilled.

Pupils and places

Reception intake in the “Ellesmere Port Town East Primary” planning area

Cheshire West and Chester counted 221 Reception pupils in this area in 2024–25 and forecasts 208 in 2029–30, down 6%.

202320242025
Places 315315315
Pupils 298313308
Unfilled 5.4%0.6%2.2%

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 The Acorns Primary and Nursery School attended 94.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 16.5% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

202320242025
Authorised absence 4.2%3.6%3.4%
Unauthorised absence 2.1%2.3%2.4%
Severely absent pupils 0.4%0.4%0.7%

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, 0.5% of pupils at The Acorns Primary and Nursery School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

2022202320242025
Suspensions per 100 pupils 1.11.42.21.4
Permanent exclusions 0000

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 The Acorns Primary and Nursery School had 17.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 9.4% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

2023202420252026
Pupils per adult 8.18.48.98.3
Teachers who left state teaching 24.1%6.5%7.1%–
Teachers who took any sick leave 60.0%70.0%44.4%–
Sick days per teacher 2.63.41.6–

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, 18.8% of pupils at The Acorns Primary and Nursery School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.7% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

SEN support EHC plan
Speech, language and communication needs 42 1
Social, emotional and mental health 11 3
Autistic spectrum disorder 3 6
Specific learning difficulty 5 3
No specialist assessment of need 3 0
Moderate learning difficulty 1 0
Other difficulty or disability 1 0
Physical disability 1 0

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 The Acorns Primary and Nursery School received £7,776 and spent £7,737 for each of its 347 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £311,000 (£897 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

202320242025
Revenue reserve £169,000£222,000£311,000
per pupil £503£646£897
In-year balance -£87,000-£33,000£14,000
per pupil -£258-£96£39

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.

Name Distance
Brookside Primary School
Rostherne Avenue, Great Sutton, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH66 2EE
0.47 miles
William Stockton Community Primary School
Heathfield Road, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH65 8DH
0.56 miles
Our Lady Star of the Sea Catholic Primary School
Capenhurst Lane, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH65 7AQ
0.72 miles
Rivacre Valley Primary School
Rivacre Brow, Overpool, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH66 1LE
0.73 miles
Westminster Community Primary School
John Street, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH65 2ED
0.74 miles
St Mary of The Angels Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy
Rossall Grove, Little Sutton, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH66 1NN
0.76 miles
St Saviour's Catholic Primary and Nursery School, A Voluntary Academy
Seacombe Drive, Great Sutton, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH66 2BD
0.8 miles
Hinderton School
Capenhurst Lane, Whitby, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH65 7AQ
0.81 miles
Parklands Community Primary and Nursery School
Parklands, Little Sutton, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH66 3RL
0.88 miles
Cambridge Road Community Primary and Nursery School
Cambridge Road, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH65 4AQ
0.92 miles
Whitby Heath Primary School
Wyedale, Whitby, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH65 6RJ
0.95 miles
Sutton Green Primary School
Armthorpe Drive, Little Sutton, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH66 4NW
1.02 miles
Rossmore School
Red Lion Lane, Little Sutton, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH66 1HF
1.08 miles
Meadow Primary School
Dolphin Crescent, Great Sutton, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH66 4SZ
1.11 miles
Ellesmere Port Christ Church CofE Primary School
Deeside, Whitby, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH65 6TQ
1.17 miles
Wolverham Primary and Nursery School
Milton Road, Wolverham, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH65 5AT
1.21 miles
Woodlands Primary School
Eddisbury Road, Whitby, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH66 2JT
1.22 miles
St Bernard's Roman Catholic Primary & Nursery School
Sherbourne Road, Ellesmere Port, Merseyside, CH65 5EW
1.36 miles
The Oaks Community Primary School
Rochester Drive, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH65 9EX
1.51 miles
Little Sutton C of E Primary School
Berwick Road, Little Sutton, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH66 4PP
1.55 miles
Name Distance
Ellesmere Port Church of England College
164 Whitby Road, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH65 6EA
0.55 miles
Ellesmere Port Catholic High School, a Voluntary Academy
Capenhurst Lane, Whitby, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH65 7AQ
0.71 miles
Archers Brook SEMH School
Chester Road, Great Sutton, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH66 2NA
1.14 miles
The Whitby High School
Sycamore Drive, Whitby, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH66 2NU
1.25 miles
South Wirral High School
Plymyard Avenue, Eastham, Wirral, Merseyside, CH62 8EH
3.24 miles
Dorin Park School & Specialist SEN College
Wealstone Lane, Upton, Chester, Cheshire, CH2 1HD
4.85 miles

All schools in Ellesmere Port · Cheshire West and Chester local authority: places and applications

The Acorns Primary and Nursery School is part of The Rowan Learning Trust, which runs 11 schools. The nearest others:

What is The Acorns Primary and Nursery School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for The Acorns Primary and Nursery School is Good, from an inspection in February 2018 of its predecessor, The Acorns Primary and Nursery School.

When was The Acorns Primary and Nursery School last inspected by Ofsted?

The Acorns Primary and Nursery School was last inspected in July 2025.

How many pupils does The Acorns Primary and Nursery School have?

The Acorns Primary and Nursery School has 356 pupils on roll.

What age range does The Acorns Primary and Nursery School cover?

The Acorns Primary and Nursery School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are The Acorns Primary and Nursery School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 56% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is The Acorns Primary and Nursery School?

The Acorns Primary and Nursery School is at Pooltown Road, Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, CH65 7ED.

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