Barrow CofE Primary School
General Information
- Address: Barrow, School Lane, Chester, CH3 7HW – View on map
- Phone: 01244445154
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Claire Green
- Age range: 4-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 8 families put it first for 9 places – 9 for every 10 places. Every one of them was offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 8 · 2024 10 · 2025 9 · 2026 9
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Church of England
- Nursery provision: No
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 8
- % eligible for free school meals: 16.7%
- Pupil mix: 1 in 10 (less mixed than the Cheshire West and Chester average)
- English as an additional language: 2% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 7.7% a year (Cheshire West and Chester 11.6%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 100% moved to another school, 0% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
- Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 3 years, DfE school workforce census)
Teachers who moved school or left state schools in the year after each November, as a share of all the school's teachers. Some turnover is healthy – retirements, promotions, moving house. This is a small staff, so one or two teachers leaving moves the figure a lot.
Behaviour
Awaiting Data
Across Cheshire West and Chester: suspensions by reason
- Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 1 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
- Suspensions for bullying: 4 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 0 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.0)
- Data year: 2024/25 (DfE suspensions and exclusions statistics)
These are figures for all state primary schools in Cheshire West and Chester, not this school's own – the government doesn't publish them school by school. A suspension can have up to three reasons. Most sexual harassment between pupils never leads to a suspension, so these figures show only part of the picture.
Attendance
- Overall absence: 5.3%
- Persistently absent pupils: 11.5%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 6.3%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 6.3%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- Moderate learning difficulty: 2 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 1 pupil
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
- Multi-sensory impairment: 1 pupil
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Ofsted report card February 2026
Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.
- Safeguarding Not met
- Inclusion Expected standard
- Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
- Achievement Expected standard
- Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
- Personal development and wellbeing Strong standard
- Early years Expected standard
- Leadership and governance Urgent improvement
Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Requires improvement (2023). The report card above replaces that grade.
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 33% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: 29 percentage points below the Cheshire West and Chester average (62%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 56%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 50% · Writing 50% · Maths 33% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 50%
- Average test scores: reading 102, maths 98
- Based on: 6 Year 6 pupils, 2024/25
View the School Context Comparator – how this school's SATs results compare with schools teaching similar pupils.
SATs results over time
Year 6 SATs: joint 111th of 115 junior and primary schools in the area
- =108Willow Wood Community Nursery and Primary School35%
- =108Witton Church Walk CofE Aided Nursery and Primary School35%
- =111Barrow CofE Primary School33%
- =111Great Budworth CofE Primary School33%
- =111Huxley CofE Primary School33%
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £10,731 (2024-25)
3rd of 119 primary schools in Cheshire West and Chester for spending per pupil
- #1Frodsham Primary Academy£11,890
- #2Clutton Church of England Primary School£11,789
- #3Barrow CofE Primary School£10,731
- #4Bishop Wilson Church of England Primary School£10,055
- #5Alvanley and Manley Village School£9,963
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)