St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Thornbury

St Mary’s Church of England Primary School, Thornbury is a happy, calm and orderly school where pupils feel safe and form warm relationships with staff and each other. Behaviour and personal development are good, pupils have strong attendance, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The school’s distinctive ethos and values are appreciated by parents, and pupils benefit from opportunities to contribute to the local and global community.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, safe and form warm, positive relationships
• Behaviour is good and the school is calm and orderly
• Pupils have good attendance and are punctual
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Personal development is strong, including PSHE, online safety and healthy relationships
• Pupils learn about democracy, diversity and careers through wider opportunities
• The school has raised expectations and started to strengthen the curriculum
• Curriculum sequencing is logical in most subjects
• SEND identification and support have been strengthened
• Mathematics teaching clearly demonstrates calculations before pupils practise

Areas for Improvement

• The quality of education requires improvement
• Leadership and management require improvement
• Early years provision requires improvement
• Some pupils are not prepared well enough for the next stage of their education
• The curriculum does not identify the most important knowledge and skills precisely enough in some subjects
• The early reading plan is not implemented effectively, so some pupils lack fluency and confidence
• Assessment is not used effectively to identify gaps and misconceptions, particularly in writing
• The Reception Year curriculum does not build well enough on children’s starting points or vocabulary
• Support for pupils with SEND is not consistently adapted across subjects
• Work is not always matched well to pupils’ starting points, reducing motivation and concentration
• Governors have not had sufficient insight into the school’s effectiveness or provided enough challenge and support

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 St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Thornbury attended 95.0% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.5% 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, 0.5% of pupils at St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Thornbury 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 St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Thornbury had 18.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.7% 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, 9.1% of pupils at St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Thornbury were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.0% 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 St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Thornbury received £6,900 and spent £7,609 for each of its 197 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £103,000 (-£521 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).

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Bristol · South Gloucestershire local authority: places and applications

What is St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Thornbury's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Thornbury is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Thornbury last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Thornbury was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Thornbury have?

St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Thornbury has 197 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Thornbury cover?

St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Thornbury for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Thornbury's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 38% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Thornbury?

St Mary's Church of England Primary School, Thornbury is at Church Road, Thornbury, Bristol, BS35 1HJ.