Bolton by Bowland Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School

Ribble Valley · BB7 4NP

General information Primary School · 3-11 years Who goes here 25 pupils, 8% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted report card

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 16% on SEN support Behaviour 4.8% absence rate Staff 51.6% turnover Financials £14,114 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Bolton by Bowland Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School

General Information

Address: Gisburn Road, Bolton-by-Bowland, Clitheroe, BB7 4NP – View on map
Phone: 01200447632
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Mrs Joanne Abram
Age range: 3-11 years
Sixth form: No
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Church of England
Nursery provision: Yes

Who goes here

25 pupils out of 58 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 2
% eligible for free school meals: 8.0%
English as an additional language: 0% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 51.6% a year (Ribble Valley 12.1%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 48% moved to another school, 52% 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

About this Behaviour status

We've asked this school for real behaviour figures under Freedom of Information and haven't had a response yet.

Across Lancashire: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 9 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 3
Suspensions for bullying: 18 (0.2 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 7 (0.1 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 Lancashire (the council area this school is in), 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: 4.8%
Persistently absent pupils: 7.1%
Data year: 2024/25

About persistent absence

A pupil is counted as "persistently absent" if they miss 10% or more of their possible school sessions - roughly one day in every two weeks. Schools and Ofsted both pay close attention to this figure specifically, since it can highlight a pattern the overall absence rate alone might hide.

SEN

No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision

SEN Unit and Resourced Provision

Most mainstream schools don't have a dedicated SEN Unit or Resourced Provision - it isn't a mark against a school that doesn't, just a different kind of setup than one that does.

Pupils on SEN Support: 16.0%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 0.0%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 2 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
Social, emotional and mental health: 1 pupil

These figures show the makeup of the school.

About these SEND figures

These figures give a sense of the makeup of the school - they aren't a judgement on the quality of support provided.

Parent score - no reviews yet –

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Behaviour

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Openness

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Teaching Quality

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School Ethos

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Ability to Deal with Problems

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Headteacher Approval

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SafeguardingSafeguarding (parent rating)How parents rate the school on keeping children safe - how safe their child feels, and how well concerns are listened to and acted on. It's parents' experience, not an inspection result; Ofsted checks safeguarding separately.

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Wraparound CareWraparound Care (parent rating)How parents rate the school's breakfast and after-school clubs - availability, cost and quality. Only asked for infant, junior and primary schools, where it matters most for working parents.

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Would recommend –

Educational Attainment

Ofsted report card June 2026

Ofsted's new report cards grade each part of school life separately, instead of giving one overall word.

Safeguarding Met
Inclusion Expected standard
Curriculum and teaching Expected standard
Achievement Expected standard
Attendance and behaviour Expected standard
Personal development and wellbeing Expected standard
Early years Expected standard
Leadership and governance Expected standard

Before this, under the old system, Ofsted rated the school Requires improvement (2023). The report card above replaces that grade.

How Ofsted report cards work

Since November 2025, Ofsted grades each area of a school on its own five-point scale, and no longer gives a single word like “Good” or “Outstanding”. Safeguarding (keeping children safe) is simply met or not met.

Exceptional The very best practice nationally
Strong standard Above what Ofsted expects
Expected standard What Ofsted expects of every school
Needs attention Some weaknesses the school needs to fix
Urgent improvement Serious weaknesses needing urgent action

“Expected standard” is a sound result – it's what Ofsted expects a good school to do. Report cards aren't directly comparable with the old single grades, which is why we don't turn them into one.

Year 6 SATs results

SATs results for this school weren't published for 2024/25 - the Department for Education withholds them when a year group is too small to report without identifying pupils.

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £14,114 (2024-25)

About this spending figure

A higher or lower position here isn't a sign of a better or worse school - schools have different needs and circumstances - but it can help reassure you that a school has sufficient funding behind your child's education.

3rd of 31 primary schools in Ribble Valley for spending per pupil

#1Thorneyholme Roman Catholic Primary School, Dunsop Bridge£19,468
#2Slaidburn Brennands Endowed Primary School£16,602
#3Bolton by Bowland Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School£14,114
#4St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Chipping£11,041
#5Grindleton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School£10,774

Click to see the full ranking

Spending Per Pupil ranking

Based on official DfE financial return data (Consistent Financial Reporting / Academies Accounts Return) - not a ranking of school quality.

Rank School Score

#1Thorneyholme Roman Catholic Primary School, Dunsop Bridge£19,468
#2Slaidburn Brennands Endowed Primary School£16,602
#3Bolton by Bowland Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School£14,114
#4St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Chipping£11,041
#5Grindleton Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School£10,774
#6Brabins Endowed School£9,547
#7St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Sabden£9,461
#8St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Osbaldeston£8,399
#9Clitheroe Brookside Primary School£8,205
#10Ribchester St Wilfrid's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School£8,102
#11St Joseph's Roman Catholic Primary School, Hurst Green£7,626
#12Barnacre Road Primary School£7,415
#13Longridge St Wilfrid's Roman Catholic Primary School£7,343
#14Balderstone St Leonard's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School£7,297
#15Sabden Primary School£6,932
#16Simonstone St Peter's Church of England Primary School£6,838
#17Chatburn Church of England Primary School£6,711
#18Salesbury Church of England Primary School£6,632
#19Mellor St Mary Church of England Primary School£6,626
#20Gisburn Primary School£6,529
#21Edisford Primary School£6,486
#22Read St John's CofE Primary School£6,465
#23Barrow URC Primary School£6,376
#24St James' Church of England Primary School, Clitheroe£6,331
#25Waddington and West Bradford Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School£6,296
#26Alston Lane Catholic Primary School, Longridge£6,282
#27Longridge Church of England Primary School£6,210
#28Whalley Church of England Primary School£6,201
#29Clitheroe Pendle Primary School£6,192
#30Langho and Billington St Leonards Church of England Primary School£5,814
#31St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Langho£5,535

View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)

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