Halcyon Way School
Halcyon Way School is a special free school in Oldham Ol9 9QE for boys and girls aged 2 to 11. It has 130 pupils and room for 140. About 52 in every 100 pupils come from a low-income family, far more than at most schools in England. Ofsted's last grade was inspected 2024, no overall grade.
Gordon Street, Chadderton, Oldham Ol9 9QE0161 535 0011halcyonway.co.ukMrs Sue Caine headteacherAll details
What Ofsted found
Ofsted's last full inspection was on 19 November 2024, back when it gave schools one overall grade. Read the report on Ofsted's website.
Not judged Between September 2024 and November 2025, Ofsted graded each area but stopped giving one overall word.
Results
Year 6 results (SATs), summer 2025
16 children took the tests. Here is how they did against every state primary in England. With a year group this small, a couple of children can move the percentages a long way.
All Year 6 measures, year by year
| Measure | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | Oldham | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils tested | 16 | 16 | 7 | – | – |
| Reached the expected level at 11Expected standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% | 59% | 63% |
| Working above the expected levelHigher standard in reading, writing and maths | 0% | 0% | 0% | 4% | 8% |
| Expected level: readingReading expected standard | 0% | 0% | 0% | – | – |
| Expected level: mathsMaths expected standard | 0% | 0% | 0% | – | – |
| Expected level: writingWriting expected standard (teacher assessed) | 0% | 0% | 0% | – | – |
| Reading progressReading progress score | – | – | -11.2 | – | – |
| Maths progressMaths progress score | – | – | -11.6 | – | – |
There are no progress figures for 2025. That year group missed their Year 2 tests during Covid, so there was no starting point to measure from. Progress figures come back with the December 2026 results. Tests were cancelled altogether in 2020 and 2021.
Does every child do well here?
A good school does well by every child, not just on average. Each row compares two groups of pupils here. The grey marks show the same two groups across England. Every gap at this school is smaller than the gap across England. When a group has fewer than about ten pupils, its figures jump around a lot from year to year.
At the end of primary school, 2025
Low-income means the child has had free school meals at some point in the last six years. A group's figure isn't published when it has fewer than six pupils.
Getting a place
Admissions policy not published.
Each council publishes its own figures on how many families applied and how far away the last child to get a place lived. We are adding councils one at a time. If you have a link to Oldham council's admissions booklet, send it to us.
Who goes here
Who the school teaches, from the latest school census.
The most common needs among pupils getting extra support: language and communications needs (39), Autistic spectrum disorder (32), Profound and multiple learning difficulty (18), Specific learning difficulty (12), Physical disability (9), Moderate learning difficulty (5).
How the mix of pupils has changed
| Census | 2026 | 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pupils on roll | 130 | 118 | 108 | 75 | 40 |
| Pupils from low-income familiesFree school meals | 52% | 47% | 44% | 41% | 33% |
| Pupils learning EnglishEnglish as an additional language | 24% | 29% | 30% | 33% | 23% |
| Pupils getting extra supportSEN support | – | 2% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Pupils with an EHC planEducation, health and care plans | – | 98% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
Attendance and behaviour
In 2024/25 pupils were in school 90.2% of the time. Across similar schools in England it was 94.8%.
Attendance year by year
| Measure | 2024/25 | 2023/24 | 2022/23 | 2021/22 | England |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sessions missedOverall absence | 9.8% | 15.5% | 15.2% | 14.0% | 5.2% |
| Missed with permissionAuthorised absence | 8.1% | 14.3% | 14.4% | 13.7% | – |
| Missed without permissionUnauthorised absence | 1.7% | 1.3% | 0.9% | 0.3% | – |
| Pupils missing a lot of schoolPersistent absence | 34.5% | 50.0% | 54.2% | 42.9% | 12.8% |
| SuspensionsSuspension rate | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | – |
| Permanent exclusionsPermanent exclusions | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – |
Staff and money
From the government's count of school staff in November 2025 and the school's published accounts.
Money
From the academy accounts return, year to August 2025. The per-pupil figures are compared with other special schools in England that report their accounts the same way.
Reserves are the money left over at the end of the year, kept back for emergencies and big projects. Being in the red year after year is a warning sign. Very large reserves can mean money sitting in the bank instead of being spent on today's pupils. Academy figures are rounded to the nearest £1,000 and include a share of any money the trust holds centrally.
The area around the school
Crime figures come from police.uk. The police record each crime at the nearest of a fixed set of map points rather than the exact spot, so “within 500 m” is only rough. House prices are from HM Land Registry sales nearby over the last two years.
Nearby schools
The closest schools, nearest first. Hover over a row to see it on the map.
| School | Type | Distance | Pupils | Ofsted | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingfisher Special School | Academy | 110 m | 218 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Chances Mentoring | Independent | 130 m | 17 | Not inspected | – | Compare |
| Saint John Henry Newman Roman Catholic College, A Voluntary Academy | Academy | 530 m | 1,469 | Requires improvement 2023 | 3 | Compare |
| Yew Tree Community School | Council | 600 m | 619 | No overall grade 2024 | 39 | Compare |
| Christ Church CofE Primary School | Church of England | 810 m | 273 | Good 2022 | 90 | Compare |
| Stanley Road Primary School | Council | 0.7 miles | 443 | Good 2024 | 35 | Compare |
| Whitegate End Primary and Nursery School | Council | 0.7 miles | 208 | No overall grade 2025 | 9 | Compare |
| St Luke's CofE Primary School | Church of England | 0.7 miles | 191 | Good 2023 | 11 | Compare |
Questions parents ask
Is Halcyon Way School a good school?
Halcyon Way School doesn't have a score yet. Ofsted rated it not judged at its last inspection in November 2024.
What is Halcyon Way School's Ofsted rating?
Ofsted rated Halcyon Way School not judged at its last full inspection on 19 November 2024.
How good are Halcyon Way School's SATs results?
In summer 2025, 0% of Year 6 children reached the expected level in reading, writing and maths. Across England it was 63%. 0% went further and reached the higher level. The year group was small, so the percentages jump around a lot from year to year.
How many pupils does Halcyon Way School have?
130 pupils aged 2 to 11 were on the roll in January 2026. It has 140 places, so it is 93% full.
What is attendance like at Halcyon Way School?
Pupils were in school 90.2% of the time in 2024/25. Similar schools in England managed 94.8%. 34% of pupils missed at least a tenth of the year.
These answers come straight from the figures on this page and update when new data comes out.
Contact and details
- Address
- Gordon Street, Chadderton, Oldham Ol9 9QE
- Telephone
- 0161 535 0011
- Website
- www.halcyonway.co.uk
- Headteacher
- Mrs Sue Caine
- Type of school
- Special free school (Free schools special, free schools)
- Phase
- Special school, ages 2-11
- Gender
- Mixed
- Religious character
- None
- Multi-academy trust
- Kingfisher Learning Trust (7 schools)
- Local authority
- Oldham
- Ward
- Chadderton Central
- Constituency
- Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton
- Setting
- (England/Wales) Urban major conurbation
- Opened
- 1 January 2022 (free special school)
- URN
- 143762 · LAESTAB 3537002 · UKPRN 10088760
Where these figures come from
- School details: Department for Education, Get Information About Schools, refreshed daily (this page rebuilt 13 September 2026).
- Inspections: Ofsted management information, monthly; latest publication in our data 27 August 2026.
- Year 6 results: DfE key stage 2 tables, 2024/25.
- Attendance: DfE pupil absence in schools in England, 2024/25 full year.
- Pupil characteristics: DfE school census, January 2026.
- Staff: DfE school workforce census, November 2025.
- Pupil premium: DfE allocations and conditions of grant, 2026 to 2027.
- Money: DfE financial benchmarking and insights tool, academy accounts return 2024/25.
- Neighbourhood: police.uk street-level crime, HM Land Registry price paid data, NaPTAN bus stops, English Indices of Deprivation 2025.
- All under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Full list and update calendar.