Rossmore School

About Rossmore School

Rossmore School, a state primary in Cheshire West and Chester, holds a Good rating from Ofsted, a grade it has maintained since its most recent graded inspection in 2012. The school’s most recent ungraded inspection in 2022 confirmed it remains Good, with leadership and management also rated Good. However, the academic outcomes tell a more nuanced story. In the 2023/24 Key Stage 2 assessments, just 30% of pupils reached the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined. That is significantly below the local authority average of 61% for the same measure. The school’s individual subject scores show 48% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, 48% in maths, and 67% in writing. Only 4% of pupils achieved the higher standard in maths, and none did so in writing. These figures place Rossmore 105th out of 110 primary schools in the local authority, and in the bottom 50 nationally.

Digging deeper into the KS2 data, the average scaled scores for reading and maths both sit at 99, just below the national benchmark of 100. Progress scores are not available for any subject, so it is not possible to say how much value the school adds relative to pupils’ starting points. The Ofsted inspection from 2010, when the school was rated Requires Improvement, noted early years provision as a weakness, but the current inspection does not revisit that area. The school’s capacity is 210, and it currently has 200 pupils on roll, with 25.7% eligible for free school meals, which is above the national average. The headteacher, Susan Davis-McCoy, leads a school that clearly faces challenges in core academic outcomes, particularly in reading and maths, where fewer than half of pupils meet the expected standard.

On a practical level, Rossmore offers a range of facilities including an outdoor playground, art studios, an ICT suite, playing fields, a gymnasium and a chapel. Sports include athletics, rounders, gymnastics, cross country and dance, while clubs cover drama, eco club, choir, film club, art club and chess. The school has a broad SEND offer, with provisions for specific learning difficulties like dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech and language communication needs, visual impairment, physical disability and other difficulties. For the 2025/26 intake, the school was oversubscribed: 43 applications were received for 19 places, with 18 first-preference offers made, giving an oversubscription ratio of 2.26. This suggests strong local demand despite the academic results. The school has nursery provision, making it a potential option for families seeking continuity from age three through to Year 6.

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