Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School is a friendly, nurturing school with 419 pupils, a higher-than-average proportion of disadvantaged pupils, and a well-above-average proportion of pupils with SEN support. The school is judged at the strong standard for attendance and behaviour and at the expected standard for achievement, curriculum and teaching, early years, inclusion, leadership and governance, and personal development and wellbeing. Safeguarding standards are met, and leaders have created a positive safeguarding culture. Attendance is a notable strength: pupils attend well, disadvantaged pupils and those with barriers have improved markedly, and leaders act quickly and know families well. Behaviour is excellent, bullying is rare, and pupils are calm, respectful and keen to learn. Reading is taught to a high standard, the curriculum is broad and well planned, and pupils with SEND are well understood and progress well from their varied starting points. Leadership and governance are strong, parents and staff speak highly of the school, and the personal development offer is wide and inclusive. However, some pupils' writing and handwriting hold back their overall achievement, and attainment in writing and combined key stage 2 measures has been below national averages. Pupils sometimes do not use basic skills such as number formation accurately across subjects. In the early years, some children begin Year 1 with gaps in mathematics and literacy because they have not had enough opportunities to practise these skills, although improvements are underway. Leaders should embed the new handwriting curriculum, ensure consistently high standards of recording work across all subjects, and secure consistent early years teaching and practice in mathematics, reading and writing.

Strengths

• High attendance, with marked improvement for disadvantaged pupils and pupils facing barriers to learning.
• Leaders act swiftly and effectively to improve attendance and know families very well.
• A positive culture of high expectations for behaviour is evident throughout the school.
• Pupils conduct themselves exceptionally well, including in collective worship and around the school.
• Bullying is incredibly rare, and staff address unkind behaviour before it escalates.
• Reading is taught to a high standard, and pupils enjoy reading a wide range of books.
• The curriculum is well planned, broad, and designed to help pupils remember previously taught content.
• Pupils with SEND are well understood and progress well from their starting points.
• Inclusion is effective, with prompt identification, strong pastoral support, and careful use of pupil premium funding.
• Leaders have a clear vision, accurate self-knowledge, and a strong record of making improvements.
• Governance is highly knowledgeable and provides an excellent balance of support and challenge.
• Parents speak positively about communication and feel there is always someone to listen.
• Staff feel well supported, valued, and given the training and time they need.
• The personal development offer is wide, including trips, visitors, clubs, swimming, cooking, and online safety education.
• Early years provision is well resourced and prioritises children's physical, personal, social, and emotional development.
• Pupils feel safe, valued, listened to, and have a strong sense of belonging.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open and positive culture of safeguarding.

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' handwriting can hold back their fluency and overall achievement in writing.
• Attainment in writing has been historically low in key stage 2 national assessments.
• Combined reading, writing, and mathematics outcomes at key stage 2 have been below national averages.
• Pupils sometimes do not use basic skills correctly, such as number formation, when recording work in other subjects.
• Some children begin Year 1 with gaps in mathematics and literacy knowledge.
• Early years staff do not always provide enough consistent practice in mathematics, reading, and writing.
• The new handwriting curriculum still needs to be fully embedded across the school.
• Pupils need to record their work to a consistently high standard across all subjects.

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School attended 94.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 16.8% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 13.0%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 1.4% of pupils at Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School had 17.1 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 23.8% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 15.7%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 23.2% of pupils at Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.7% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded primary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2025–26 Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School received £7,909 and spent £7,748 for each of its 402 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £197,000 (£490 per pupil).

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24).

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What is Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School have?

Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School has 419 pupils on roll.

What age range does Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School cover?

Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 45% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School?

Middleton St Mary's Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School is at Moor Flatts Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS10 3SW.