St Stephen's CofE Primary School

About St Stephen's CofE Primary School

St Stephen's CofE Primary School is a state primary in Bolton, a local authority with 97 primary schools. The school sits 57th in the LA's rankings, placing it in the bottom half of Bolton primaries. The top three ranked peers in the area are The Olive School, Bolton, The Oaks Primary School, and The Valley Community Primary School, all of which score significantly higher on the same metric. St Stephen's is a Church of England school with a mixed intake of 186 pupils, operating below its capacity of 210. It is oversubscribed for the 2025/26 intake, receiving 44 applications for 15 places, with all 15 first-preference applicants offered a spot. The nearest Outstanding-rated school is Prestolee Primary School, 1.2 kilometres away. The school's most recent Ofsted inspection, in 2023, rated it Good across all categories, including quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. This is consistent with its previous 2016 inspection, which also rated overall effectiveness as Good.

Academically, St Stephen's KS2 results for 2023/24 show 60% of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing, and maths combined. This is below the Bolton LA average of 66%. The school's ranking on this metric places it 55th out of 87 Bolton primaries, in the bottom 50% nationally. In individual subjects, 77% met the expected standard in reading and in maths, and 73% in writing. At the higher standard, 20% achieved higher scores in reading and in maths, 17% in writing, and 7% across all three subjects. Average scaled scores were 103 in reading and 104 in maths. Progress scores are not available for any of the three subjects, so it is not possible to assess how much value the school adds relative to pupils' starting points. The school has no sixth form, as it is a primary, and no nursery provision.

The school offers a range of facilities including a gymnasium, library, ICT suite, art studios, and a chapel. Sports provision includes athletics, swimming, rounders, netball, dance, cross country, and cricket. Clubs cover chess, eco club, choir, and film club. For SEND, the school identifies provisions for specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia, moderate learning difficulty, social, emotional and mental health needs, speech, language and communication needs, and other difficulty or disability. With 24.7% of pupils eligible for free school meals, the school serves a community with above-average deprivation. Given its oversubscription and modest academic ranking, St Stephen's is likely to suit families who value a Good-rated Church of England primary with a strong local reputation, a manageable size, and a broad range of extracurricular activities, but who are also aware that its KS2 outcomes trail the LA average.

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