Whirley Primary School
General Information
- Address: Whirley Road, Broken Cross, Macclesfield, SK10 3JL – View on map
- Phone: 01625783815
- Website: Visit school website
- Headteacher: Mrs Karen Whalley
- Age range: 4-11 years
- Demand for places (Reception, September 2026): 51 families put it first for 31 places – 16 for every 10 places. 61% of them were offered a place. No places went to families living outside the council area. Children putting it first, for every 10 places: 2023 15 · 2024 11 · 2025 12 · 2026 16
- Sixth form: No
- Intake: Mixed
- Religious character: Does not apply
- Nursery provision: No
Who goes here
- Pupils eligible for free school meals: 10
- % eligible for free school meals: 4.7%
- Pupil mix: 2 in 10 (less mixed than the Cheshire East average)
- English as an additional language: 2% (England 22%)
Staff
Teachers leaving each year
- Teacher turnover: 5.9% a year (Cheshire East 12.6%, typical in England 13.9%)
- Where they went: about 36% moved to another school, 64% left state schools altogether (retirement, other careers, independent schools, abroad)
- Data years: 2022/23 to 2024/25 (average of 2 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 East: 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: 1 (0.0 per 1,000 pupils; England 0.2)
- Suspensions for abuse against sexual orientation or gender identity: 1 (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 East, 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: 3.4%
- Persistently absent pupils: 3.8%
- Data year: 2024/25
SEN
No dedicated Unit or Resourced Provision
- Pupils on SEN Support: 9.9%
- Pupils with an EHC Plan: 4.2%
- Data year: 2025/26
Most common needs - SEN Support
- SEN support but no specialist assessment of type of need: 9 pupils
- Speech, language and communications needs: 5 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 3 pupils
- Specific learning difficulty: 1 pupil
- Other difficulty or disability: 1 pupil
Most common needs - EHC Plan
- Speech, language and communications needs: 3 pupils
- Physical disability: 2 pupils
- Social, emotional and mental health: 2 pupils
- Multi-sensory impairment: 1 pupil
- Autistic spectrum disorder: 1 pupil
These figures show the makeup of the school.
Educational Attainment
Good 2022 report
Year 6 SATs results
- Met the expected standard in reading, writing & maths: 65% (England 62%)
- Reached the higher standard: 13% (England 8%)
- Compared with the area: in line with the Cheshire East average (66%)
- Compared with schools with similar pupils: As expected (3-year average 66% against an expected 68%)
- 3-year average (expected standard): 66%
- Expected standard by subject: Reading 87% · Writing 81% · Maths 81% · Grammar, punctuation & spelling 97%
- Average test scores: reading 108, maths 106
- Based on: 31 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 60th of 114 junior and primary schools in the area
- =60The Dingle Primary School65%
- =60The Quinta Primary School65%
- =60Whirley Primary School65%
- =60Worth Primary School65%
- =66Leighton Academy63%
Click to see the full ranking
View full Ofsted inspection report
88th of 99 primary schools in Cheshire East for Ofsted rating
- #86Weston Village Primary SchoolGood
- #87Wheelock Primary SchoolGood
- #88Whirley Primary SchoolGood
- #89Willaston Primary AcademyGood
- #90Wincle CofE Primary SchoolGood
Click to see the full ranking
Financials
Spending per pupil: £6,014 (2024-25)
92nd of 121 primary schools in Cheshire East for spending per pupil
- #90Pikemere School£6,020
- #91St Anne's Catholic Primary School£6,020
- #92Whirley Primary School£6,014
- #93St Gabriel's Catholic Primary School£5,990
- #94Worth Primary School£5,981
Click to see the full ranking
View on the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool (GOV.UK)