Oakfield Community Primary School, Widnes

Ofsted's report card from its 3 February 2026 inspection grades Oakfield Community Primary School on 7 areas: 1 strong standard, 3 expected standard and 3 needs attention. Report cards replaced single-word judgements in November 2025, on a five-point scale from exceptional to urgent improvement.

Personal development and wellbeing - Strong standard. "The school's personal, social, health and economic curriculum is very high quality and helps ensure that pupils develop positive values that underpin a secure sense of right and wrong."

Attendance and behaviour - Expected standard. "Leaders have created a caring and nurturing ethos in the school where staff work well with pupils and their families."

Early years - Expected standard. "The curriculum in the early years is carefully sequenced and identifies the important knowledge that children, including those in the school's specially resourced provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, need to know by the end of the Reception Year."

Inclusion - Expected standard. "Leaders have a clear strategy to ensure that the school is inclusive."

Achievement - Needs attention. "The attainment of pupils, including in the Year 1 phonics check and at the end of key stage 2 in reading, writing and mathematics, has been below national averages in recent years."

Curriculum and teaching - Needs attention. "Teachers do not consistently ensure that pupils secure important knowledge in writing and mathematics."

Leadership and governance - Needs attention. "Governors have not questioned leaders well enough about the impact of their actions to improve pupils' achievement in reading, writing and mathematics."

Safeguarding standards were met.

Ofsted's next steps for the school: "Leaders should ensure that teachers address gaps in pupils' knowledge in English and mathematics with consistency to support pupils to achieve their best"; "Leaders should ensure a more consistent approach to developing pupils' handwriting to improve pupils' presentation and fluency in writing"; "Those responsible for governance should improve their strategic oversight of the school's improvement work to ensure that pupils learn and achieve well".

From the headteacher's welcome: "We are delighted to welcome you and your child to Oakfield Community Primary & Nursery School and we hope that you are as excited about joining us as we are of meeting with you. Below are some information guides about our school nursery. We do provide 30 hours in our nurser, from 9am until 3pm."

The school runs a breakfast club and after-school care.

In 2025, 38% of Year 6 pupils at Oakfield Community Primary School reached the expected standard in reading and 50% in maths. At the average state primary the figures were 75% and 72% in Halton and 77% and 75% across England.

Results fell from 58% in reading and 63% in maths in 2024.

For September 2026 entry, 29 families put Oakfield Community Primary School as their first choice and 50 named it as one of their preferences, for 30 places offered. It had fewer first-choice applications than places. Every family who put it first was offered a place there for 2026 entry.

The nearest other state primary schools to Oakfield Community Primary School are Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Catholic Primary School (0.3 miles, Good, 74% reading, 68% maths); St Michael with St Thomas CE Primary School (0.3 miles, Good, 88% reading, 88% maths); St Michaels Catholic Primary & Nursery School (0.6 miles, Good, 76% reading, 83% maths); and St Basil's Catholic Primary School (0.7 miles, Good, 83% reading, 72% maths).

Each of them had higher 2025 results than Oakfield Community Primary School.

30 parents answered Ofsted's Parent View survey about Oakfield Community Primary School (as of April 2026): 97% would recommend the school, 93% say their child is happy there and 100% of those with a view say bullying is dealt with well.

The strongest agreement was that the school deals with bullying well (among parents with a view) (100%); the weakest, that they are kept well informed about progress (87%).

44% of pupils are eligible for free school meals, well above the average state school (25%), and 5.8% speak English as an additional language, against 18.8% on average, according to the 2026 school census.

In 2026, 55 pupils (18.9%) received SEN support and 40 (13.7%) had an education, health and care plan, against 16.2% and 4.6% at the average state school. The most common need among them is speech, language and communication needs.

Oakfield Community Primary School has a resourced provision (40 places, 40 pupils on roll) and a SEN unit (40 places, 40 pupils on roll) for speech, language and communication needs.

Oakfield Community Primary School had 21 teachers in 2026, one for every 13 pupils: more teachers per pupil than a typical primary school, at about one for every 20.

The nearest railway station is Hough Green Rail Station, about 540 metres away (roughly a 7-minute walk).

12 bus stops are within a five-minute walk; the closest is Ash Lane, 190 metres away.

In 2024/25, Oakfield Community Primary School issued 2 suspensions, 0.7 for every 100 pupils (the average state school: 6.3), and no permanent exclusions.

The secondary schools closest to Oakfield Community Primary School are Ormiston Chadwick Academy (0.7 miles) and Saints Peter and Paul Catholic High School (1.4 miles).