Palace Fields Primary Academy

Halton · WA7 2QW

General information Primary School · 3-11 years Who goes here 127 pupils, 48.7% FSM

Educational attainment Ofsted and results

Parent score Rate this school No reviews yet - be the first SEN 27.6% on SEN support Behaviour 6.0% absence rate Staff 40.5% turnover Financials £9,844 per pupil Environment Buildings and facilities

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Palace Fields Primary Academy

General Information

Address: Badger Close, Palace Fields, Runcorn, WA7 2QW – View on map
Phone: 01928242855
Website: Visit school website
Headteacher: Miss Genna Hitchin
Age range: 3-11 years
Intake: Mixed
Religious character: Does not apply
Nursery provision: Yes

Who goes here

127 pupils out of 250 places Plenty of room

Pupils eligible for free school meals: 57
% eligible for free school meals: 48.7%
Pupil mix: 2 in 10 (similar to the Halton average)
English as an additional language: 4% (England 22%)

Staff

Teachers leaving each year

Teacher turnover: 40.5% a year (Halton 12.1%, typical in England 13.9%)
Where they went: about 29% moved to another school, 71% 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 Halton: suspensions by reason

Suspensions for sexual misconduct: 1 (0.1 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
Permanent exclusions for sexual misconduct: 0
Suspensions for bullying: 1 (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 Halton, 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: 6.0%
Persistently absent pupils: 15.8%
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: 27.6%
Pupils with an EHC Plan: 11.8%
Data year: 2025/26

Most common needs - SEN Support

Speech, language and communications needs: 10 pupils
Moderate learning difficulty: 9 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 8 pupils
Physical disability: 4 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 2 pupils

Most common needs - EHC Plan

Speech, language and communications needs: 9 pupils
Social, emotional and mental health: 2 pupils
Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
Moderate learning difficulty: 1 pupil
Severe learning difficulty: 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

No overall grade given 2024 report

About this Ofsted rating

Ofsted stopped giving single overall grades for a period between September 2024 and November 2025 - this school's most recent inspection falls in that window, so there's no single rating to show, even though it was inspected. The full report (linked below) still has the detail.

Year 6 SATs results

Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 77% (England 62%)
Reached the higher standard: 0% (England 8%)
Compared with the area: 15 percentage points above the Halton average (62%)
Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (3-year average 55% against an expected 57%)
3-year average (expected standard): 55%
Expected standard by subject: Reading 85% · Writing 85% · Maths 92% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 92%
Average test scores: reading 108, maths 105
Based on: 13 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

This schoolHalton averageEngland↗ Improving Up 25 percentage points since 2022/23. In 2024/25 this school was 15 percentage points above the Halton average (62%).

Year 6 SATs: joint 7th of 48 junior and primary schools in the area

#6Hale Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School80%
=7Moore Primary School77%
=7Palace Fields Primary Academy77%
=7St Gerard's Catholic Primary and Nursery School77%
=10St Michael with St Thomas CE Primary School75%

Click to see the full ranking

Year 6 SATs ranking

Junior and primary schools in this area, ranked by the % of Year 6 pupils meeting the expected standard in reading, writing and maths (official DfE results, 2024/25). Schools with the same result share a place (shown as =). In small schools one or two children can move a school several places, so treat close positions as roughly equal.

Rank School Score

#1Moorfield Primary School94%
#2Daresbury Primary School85%
#3Lunts Heath Primary School84%
#4Castle View Primary School83%
#5St Clement's Catholic Primary School81%
#6Hale Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School80%
=7Moore Primary School77%
=7Palace Fields Primary Academy77%
=7St Gerard's Catholic Primary and Nursery School77%
=10St Michael with St Thomas CE Primary School75%
=10Windmill Hill Primary School75%
=12Our Lady Mother of the Saviour Catholic Primary School72%
=12St Michaels Catholic Primary & Nursery School72%
#14Beechwood Primary School71%
=15Halton Lodge Nursery & Primary School69%
=15Pewithall School69%
=17Fairfield Primary School68%
=17Woodside Primary School68%
#19Farnworth Church of England Controlled Primary School67%
#20St Martin's Catholic Primary School and Preschool63%
=21St Basil's Catholic Primary School62%
=21St Bede's Catholic Junior School62%
=21Victoria Road Primary School62%
#24Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Catholic Primary School61%
#25Brookvale Primary School60%
#26St Mary's Church of England Primary School58%
=27Hallwood Park Primary School and Nursery57%
=27St John Fisher Catholic Primary School57%
=29Gorsewood Primary School56%
=29Weston Primary School56%
=31Ditton Primary School54%
=31Hillview Primary School54%
=33Murdishaw West Primary and Nursery School53%
=33The Grange School53%
#35Kingsway Primary Academy School52%
=36Runcorn All Saints CofE Primary School50%
=36St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy50%
=36The Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School50%
=39All Saints Upton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School46%
=39Halebank CofE Primary School46%
=41Westfield Primary School43%
=41Widnes Academy43%
=43Bridgewater Park Primary School42%
=43St Edward's Catholic Primary School42%
#45Astmoor Primary School36%
#46Oakfield Community Primary School33%
#47The Brow Community Primary School27%
#48Weston Point Primary Academy25%

View full Ofsted inspection report

Financials

Spending per pupil: £9,844 (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.

11th of 46 primary schools in Halton for spending per pupil

#9Runcorn All Saints CofE Primary School£10,116
#10Halebank CofE Primary School£9,859
#11Palace Fields Primary Academy£9,844
#12Oakfield Community Primary School£9,827
#13St Basil's Catholic Primary School£9,666

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

#1Woodside Primary School£12,634
#2The Brow Community Primary School£12,560
#3Weston Point Primary Academy£11,835
#4Hallwood Park Primary School and Nursery£11,311
#5Astmoor Primary School£11,215
#6Westfield Primary School£10,750
#7Kingsway Primary Academy School£10,568
#8The Holy Spirit Catholic Primary School£10,263
#9Runcorn All Saints CofE Primary School£10,116
#10Halebank CofE Primary School£9,859
#11Palace Fields Primary Academy£9,844
#12Oakfield Community Primary School£9,827
#13St Basil's Catholic Primary School£9,666
#14St Martin's Catholic Primary School and Preschool£9,600
#15Windmill Hill Primary School£9,420
#16Murdishaw West Primary and Nursery School£9,255
#17Gorsewood Primary School£9,181
#18Bridgewater Park Primary School£9,180
#19Halton Lodge Nursery & Primary School£8,684
#20All Saints Upton Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School£8,498
#21Brookvale Primary School£8,477
#22Victoria Road Primary School£8,388
#23St Augustine's Catholic Primary School, A Voluntary Academy£8,255
#24St Gerard's Catholic Primary and Nursery School£8,194
#25St Michaels Catholic Primary & Nursery School£8,118
#26Beechwood Primary School£8,102
#27Our Lady Mother of the Saviour Catholic Primary School£8,076
#28Hale Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School£7,889
#29St Edward's Catholic Primary School£7,817
#30Widnes Academy£7,789
#31St John Fisher Catholic Primary School£7,547
#32Castle View Primary School£7,219
#33Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Catholic Primary School£7,157
#34Weston Primary School£7,128
#35St Michael with St Thomas CE Primary School£7,090
#36Moorfield Primary School£7,076
#37Ditton Primary School£7,062
#38Hillview Primary School£6,862
#39St Mary's Church of England Primary School£6,621
#40St Clement's Catholic Primary School£6,553
#41Fairfield Primary School£6,483
#42Pewithall School£6,403
#43Daresbury Primary School£6,045
#44Lunts Heath Primary School£5,917
#45Moore Primary School£5,698
#46Farnworth Church of England Controlled Primary School£5,695

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

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