Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School
Dark Lane, Newchurch, Rossendale, BB4 7UA
- Phase
- Primary
- School type
- Voluntary controlled school
- Ages
- 4 to 11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- Church of England
- Headteacher
- Mrs Gemma Callaghan
- Diocese
- Diocese of Manchester
- Constituency
- Rossendale and Darwen
- Setting
- Urban: Nearer to a major town or city
- Capacity
- 210
- Pupils on roll
- 112
- URN
- 119390
- Local authority
- Lancashire
- Website
- School website
- Telephone
- 01706229478
About this school
Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School is a Church of England voluntary controlled primary school in Rossendale. It teaches children aged 4 to 11 and has 112 pupils on roll.
You can read Ofsted's latest judgement for the school below. Where the Department for Education has published them, its results and pupil characteristics appear below. Seeing a school for yourself shows what no page can, so arrange a visit before you apply.
Ofsted judgement
Ofsted did not give an overall grade. Between September 2024 and September 2025 inspections graded each area of a school's work without a single overall judgement, ahead of the move to report cards. How Ofsted report cards work
- Quality of education
- Requires improvement
- Behaviour and attitudes
- Good
- Personal development
- Good
- Leadership and management
- Good
- Early years
- Requires improvement
- Safeguarding
- Effective
Exam results
Key stage 2 (end of primary school)
| Measure | 2022/23 | 2023/24 | 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils at the end of key stage 2 | 18 | 26 | 20 |
| Met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 44% | 31% | 20% |
| Reached the higher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Expected standard in reading | 67% | 62% | 35% |
| Expected standard in maths | 56% | 46% | 35% |
| Expected standard in grammar, punctuation and spelling | 56% | 62% | 40% |
| Average scaled score in reading | 103.0 | 104.0 | 98.0 |
| Average scaled score in maths | 100.0 | 100.0 | 98.0 |
| Reading progress | -2.20 | - | - |
| Writing progress | -4.80 | - | - |
| Maths progress | -4.70 | - | - |
Progress measures ended nationally after the 2022/23 school year, when the key stage 1 assessments they were based on were stopped. Blank progress figures in later years are not missing school data.
Trends over time
How Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School has moved over recent years against the local and national picture. Every figure is shown in the table beneath its chart.
| Year | This school | Lancashire average | England average |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 44% | 58.3% | 57.9% |
| 2023/24 | 31% | 58.3% | 58.8% |
| 2024/25 | 20% | 58.8% | 60.3% |
Department for Education KS2 performance data, published school results.
| Year | This school | England average |
|---|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 5.9% | 6.8% |
| 2023/24 | 7.3% | 6.6% |
| 2024/25 | 7.5% | 6.2% |
Department for Education pupil absence data.
| Year | This school |
|---|---|
| 2022/23 | 123 |
| 2023/24 | 135 |
| 2024/25 | 116 |
School census, spring count each academic year.
How Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School compares
Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School ranked 436th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for KS2 results in 2024/25. Its KS2 result was higher than 5% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 20% of England schools in 2024/25.
| School | KS2 RWM (2024/25) | Absence | FSM (6 years) | Pupils | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| This school | 20% | 7.5% | 51.7% | 112 | — |
| St Peter's Roman Catholic Primary School, Newchurch | 74% | 3.3% | 12.1% | 152 | 0.3 miles |
| Waterfoot Primary School | 73% | 5% | 20.7% | 296 | 0.6 miles |
| St Anne's Church of England Primary School | 71% | 4.7% | 35.3% | 186 | 0.6 miles |
| Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School | 32% | 7.6% | 46.7% | 109 | 1.3 miles |
| Rawtenstall St Paul's Church of England Primary School | 44% | 4.8% | 14.3% | 276 | 1.4 miles |
Results reflect each school's cohort as much as its teaching, and free school meals share is context, not a judgement. Small gaps between neighbouring schools are rarely meaningful on their own.
Inspection history
School context
From the 2024/25 school census and absence figures.
- Free school meals (last 6 years)
- 51.72%
- English as an additional language
- 6%
- Overall absence
- 7.54%
- Persistent absence
- 21.93%
Location
Nearby schools
-
St Peter's Roman Catholic Primary School, Newchurch0.3 miles
Primary · Rossendale
-
Waterfoot Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Rossendale
-
St Anne's Church of England Primary School0.6 miles
Primary · Rossendale
-
Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School1.3 miles
Primary · Rossendale
-
Rawtenstall St Paul's Church of England Primary School1.4 miles
Primary · Rawtenstall
Other schools in Rossendale
Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School ranks 13th of the 13 ranked primary schools in Rossendale.
- Crawshawbooth Primary School Primary
- Haslingden Broadway Primary School Primary
- Haslingden Primary School Primary
- Helmshore Primary School Primary
- Rawtenstall Balladen Community Primary School Primary
- St Anne's Church of England Primary School Primary
- St James-the-Less Roman Catholic Primary School, Rawtenstall Primary
- St Mary's CofE Primary School Rawtenstall Primary
- St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School, Haslingden Primary
- St Peter's Roman Catholic Primary School, Newchurch Primary
- Water Primary School Primary
- Waterfoot Primary School Primary
Common questions
- What year groups does Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School teach?
- Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School teaches children aged 4 to 11. It is a primary school in Rossendale.
- Who is the headteacher of Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School?
- The headteacher of Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School is Mrs Gemma Callaghan, as recorded in the Department for Education's register of schools.
- When was Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School last inspected?
- Ofsted has inspected Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School, and its latest judgement is set out in the inspection section on this page, with the framework and the date it was made.
- How big is Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School?
- Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School has 112 pupils on roll, teaching children aged 4 to 11.
- Is Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School full?
- Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School has capacity for 210 pupils and 112 on roll (53%), so it has space against its published capacity. Places are allocated through the local authority's admissions process, so capacity alone does not tell you whether a place is available.
- Is Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School a faith school?
- Yes. Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School is designated Church of England, in the Diocese of Manchester.
- Does Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School have a nursery?
- No. The schools register records Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School as having no nursery classes.
- How have Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School's results changed over recent years?
- Its share of pupils reaching the expected standard in reading, writing and maths was 44% in 2022/23 and 20% in 2024/25. The year-by-year figures, alongside local and national averages, are charted in the trends section on this page.
- How does Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School rank locally?
- Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School ranked 436th of 445 primary schools in Lancashire for key stage 2 results. Its KS2 result was higher than 5% of England primary schools that published results in 2024/25. Its absence rate was lower than 20% of England schools in 2024/25. Results reflect each cohort as well as the school, so treat rankings as a starting point.
- What is Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School's absence rate?
- Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School's overall absence rate is 7.5% in the latest published census, above the England average of 6.2%.
- What are Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School's exam results?
- Where the Department for Education has published them, Rawtenstall Newchurch Church of England Primary School's key stage results are shown in the results section on this page, with the last three years so you can see the trend rather than a single year.
School details come from the Department for Education's Get Information About Schools register. Inspection outcomes come from Ofsted, and exam results from the Department for Education's school performance service. This page was last updated on 30 June 2026.