Thomas Barnes Primary School

About Thomas Barnes Primary School

Thomas Barnes Primary School in Lichfield holds a Good rating from its most recent Ofsted inspection in 2025, but the story of its academic outcomes is more nuanced than that single grade suggests. The school’s Key Stage 2 results for 2023/24 show that 62% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths combined, which is slightly below the Staffordshire local authority average of 65%. This places the school 25th out of 34 primary schools in Lichfield, putting it in the bottom half of the local rankings. However, the picture is not uniformly subdued. In reading, 38% of pupils achieved the higher standard, and the average reading score was 105, while in maths the average score was 103 with 23% reaching the higher threshold. Writing saw 15% of pupils reach the higher standard. These figures suggest that while the school’s overall combined attainment is modest, there are pockets of stronger performance, particularly in reading.

The Ofsted inspection itself, conducted in January 2025, awarded the school Outstanding grades for both personal development and behaviour and attitudes, alongside Good ratings for quality of education, early years provision, and leadership and management. This is a notable shift from the school’s previous inspection in 2014, when it was rated Outstanding overall. The current inspection judged the school’s overall effectiveness as ‘Not judged’, meaning the team did not issue a final grade, but the component grades paint a clear picture of a school that excels in pastoral care and pupil conduct. Parent feedback is overwhelmingly positive: 91% of respondents would recommend the school, and 97% agreed or strongly agreed that their child is happy there. Strong majorities also felt their child is safe (97%) and that the school has high expectations (84%).

The school is a small primary, with 104 pupils on roll against a capacity of 105, and it is clearly popular in the local area. For the 2025/26 intake, it received 54 applications for just 15 places, with 19 first-preference applications, giving an oversubscription ratio of 3.6 to one. Facilities include a library, ICT suite, music rooms, playing fields, a forest school, and a gymnasium, with clubs spanning science, coding, book club and art. Sports offered include football, netball, cricket, athletics, rounders and dance. The school’s SEND provisions cover specific learning difficulties, moderate learning difficulty, speech and language needs, and autistic spectrum disorder, though the parent view data on SEND support was not completed by any respondents. This is a school that suits families who prioritise a strong pastoral environment and good behaviour, and who are comfortable with a setting where academic outcomes are solid but not the highest in the area.

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