Balshaw Lane Community Primary School

Balshaw Lane Community Primary School is performing well overall. Inspectors found pupils are happy, proud to attend and well cared for, with good behaviour and respectful relationships across the school. The school prioritises reading from Reception, supports pupils with SEND effectively and provides exemplary personal development, including a wide range of enrichment experiences. Safeguarding arrangements are effective, and staff, governors and trustees are positive and well supported. The main area for improvement is the curriculum in some subjects, where the important knowledge and skills pupils need to learn, and when they should learn them, are not well enough defined. As a result, some pupils do not learn as well as they should in those subjects. The school has also identified that some pupils do not attend as regularly as they should, although effective measures are being taken to improve this. This was the school’s first routine section 5 inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first inspection under the current framework. It had previously been judged outstanding before it opened as an academy and is part of the Aspirational Futures Multi-Academy Trust. Leaders, governors and trustees share high aspirations and communication across the trust is strong.

Strengths

• Pupils are proud, happy and feel well cared for by staff who know them well.
• Reading and phonics are prioritised from Reception, with well-trained staff helping pupils keep up.
• Pupils with SEND are identified early, well supported and achieve well.
• Personal development is exemplary, with extensive enrichment, trips, clubs and visiting speakers.
• Pupils show empathy, understand British values and are well informed about safety and mental health.
• Behaviour is good; pupils are polite, respectful and move sensibly around school.
• Overall attendance is high, and effective action is taken to support pupils whose attendance needs to improve.
• In most subjects, the curriculum is well sequenced and teachers help pupils build and remember knowledge.
• Governors and trustees have high aspirations and communicate well with school leaders.
• Staff feel valued, receive useful training and their workload is considered carefully.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, the important knowledge and skills pupils need to learn, and when, are not well thought out.
• In those subjects, some pupils do not learn as well as they should.
• Some pupils do not attend school as regularly as they should, although effective measures are being taken.

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 Balshaw Lane Community Primary School attended 95.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 6.9% 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, 1.5% of pupils at Balshaw Lane 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 Balshaw Lane Community Primary School had 23.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.6% 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, 10.5% of pupils at Balshaw Lane Community Primary 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

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 Balshaw Lane Community Primary School received £5,890 and spent £5,681 for each of its 402 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £200,000 (£499 per pupil).

Across all 5 schools of Aspirational Futures Multi-Academy Trust, income was £8,052 and spending £7,652 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 Chorley · Lancashire local authority: places and applications

Balshaw Lane Community Primary School is part of Aspirational Futures Multi-Academy Trust, which runs 5 schools. The nearest others:

• Parklands High School Chorley
• Gillibrand Primary School Chorley
• Highfield Community Primary School Chorley
• Walton-Le-Dale High School Preston

What is Balshaw Lane Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Balshaw Lane Community Primary School is Good, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was Balshaw Lane Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Balshaw Lane Community Primary School was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Balshaw Lane Community Primary School have?

Balshaw Lane Community Primary School has 382 pupils on roll.

What age range does Balshaw Lane Community Primary School cover?

Balshaw Lane Community Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 57% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Balshaw Lane Community Primary School?

Balshaw Lane Community Primary School is at Bredon Avenue, Euxton, Chorley, Lancashire, PR7 6NS.