Crosslee Community Primary School

Crosslee Community Primary School is a larger-than-average primary in Blackley, Manchester, part of Changing Lives in Collaboration Academy Trust, serving a disadvantaged community with high proportions of pupils eligible for free school meals and with SEN support. Since joining the trust, leaders have tackled historic failings and made substantial improvements: the curriculum is now ambitious and knowledge-rich, inclusion is much stronger, behaviour is calm and orderly, and personal development and wellbeing are well provided for. Safeguarding standards are met, and pupils say they enjoy school and feel safe and welcomed. Most areas of the school's work are judged as expected standard, including curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. However, achievement needs attention: published outcomes at the end of Year 6 are below national averages, phonics results are weaker than they should be, and gaps in learning, especially for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, are not closing quickly enough. Some pupils do not retain important knowledge and vocabulary, and written work errors are not always corrected promptly. Attendance and behaviour also need attention. Although many pupils attend regularly and behaviour has improved, overall absence and persistent absence have been high, particularly for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, and suspensions, while reducing, have been high. Leaders have robust plans and a clear understanding of the issues, but the full impact of their work is not yet evident. Early years practice is broadly effective but occasionally inconsistent, and leaders are rightly focused on ensuring children learn consistently well.

Strengths

• Ambitious, knowledge-rich curriculum with content logically sequenced.
• Leaders have an accurate understanding of curriculum and teaching and act effectively to improve them.
• Staff typically implement the curriculum well, with clear explanations, retrieval and effective questioning.
• Teaching is adapted to pupils' individual needs, including those with SEND, barriers to learning and EAL.
• Reading, communication and language are prioritised across the school.
• Early years has been carefully redesigned; children settle quickly and progress steadily from low starting points.
• Inclusion has greatly improved, with a welcoming environment and robust systems to identify and support additional needs.
• Leaders make effective use of additional funding for disadvantaged pupils and monitor its impact.
• Leadership and governance are effective, with strong trust support and challenge and a clear moral purpose.
• Staff feel well supported, valued and receive training aligned to school priorities.
• Personal development and wellbeing provision is well designed, including PSHE, British values, clubs and pupil voice.
• Behaviour is calm and orderly; pupils are polite, relationships are nurturing and suspensions are reducing.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture where concerns are actively identified and managed.
• Pupils enjoy school, feel safe and develop a firm sense of belonging and aspiration.

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement needs attention; end of Year 6 attainment is below national averages in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Phonics screening outcomes are below what they should be, and some pupils do not develop reading fluency or accuracy quickly enough.
• Gaps in learning, especially for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND, do not close quickly enough.
• Some pupils do not remember the important knowledge and vocabulary leaders intend.
• Pupils' written work errors are not always remedied swiftly.
• Attendance has been below national averages over time, and persistent absence has been concerningly high, including for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND.
• Suspensions have been high, although they are reducing.
• The full impact of leaders' work on achievement and attendance is not yet evident.
• Early years practice is occasionally not fully effective, so children do not always learn consistently well.
• Historic failings and previously fractured relationships with parents required significant repair, though progress has been made.

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 Crosslee Community Primary School attended 92.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 24.1% 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, 6.2% of pupils at Crosslee Community 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 Crosslee Community Primary School had 18.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 18.7% 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, 24.1% of pupils at Crosslee Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.9% 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 Crosslee Community Primary School received £7,805 and spent £8,002 for each of its 389 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £155,000 (£398 per pupil).

Across all 7 schools of Changing Lives in Collaboration, income was £7,528 and spending £7,581 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 Manchester · Manchester local authority: places and applications

Crosslee Community Primary School is part of Changing Lives in Collaboration, which runs 7 schools. The nearest others:

• Lily Lane Primary School Manchester
• Rolls Crescent Primary School Manchester
• Ravensfield Primary School Dukinfield
• Dane Bank Primary School Stockport
• Old Moat Primary School Manchester
• Chorlton Park Primary Manchester

What is Crosslee Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Crosslee Community Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Crosslee Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Crosslee Community Primary School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Crosslee Community Primary School have?

Crosslee Community Primary School has 373 pupils on roll.

What age range does Crosslee Community Primary School cover?

Crosslee Community Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 50% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Crosslee Community Primary School?

Crosslee Community Primary School is at Crosslee Road, Blackley, Manchester, M9 6TG.