John Donne Church of England Primary School

Type Primary / Voluntary aided school
Age Range 3-11
Religion Church of England
Address High Street
Blunham
Bedford
Bedfordshire
MK44 3NL
Phone 01767640346
Reference Number 109615

John Donne Church of England Primary School is currently rated as requiring improvement following its recent inspection, which highlighted several areas needing attention. While the school has established a welcoming atmosphere where pupils feel safe and enjoy their time at school, significant challenges remain in the quality of education across various domains, including behaviour management and curriculum implementation. The school has made some progress in leadership stability and increasing academic expectations, but there are still notable gaps in pupil knowledge and inconsistencies in teaching methods that need addressing. Despite improvements in staff communication and support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), inconsistencies in behaviour management and limited extracurricular opportunities hinder the overall development and learning experience for pupils. Moving forward, it is critical for the school to implement effective strategies to fill knowledge gaps, ensure consistent application of policies, and expand opportunities for pupils to explore their interests, thereby enhancing the quality of education and overall school performance.

General Makeup

Number of pupils 121
Boy/Girl ratio Boys: 42.98%
Girls: 57.02%
Percentage of students eligible for free school meals 17%
Percentage of students where English is not their first language 5%

Class Sizes

Average size of one teacher classes 15.6
Average size of Key Stage 1 classes taught by one teacher 19.3
Average size of Key Stage 2 classes taught by one teacher 12.8

Year Groups

Year Boys Girls Total
1 11 9 20
2 8 6 14
3 10 10 20
4 2 8 10
5 2 1 3
6 5 13 18

Ethnicities

Ethnicity Percentage
White, British 85.1%
White, Other 5.8%
White & Asian 2.5%
African 2.5%
White & Black (Caribbean) 1.7%
Indian 1.7%

Overall Ofsted Rating Requires Improvement
 >  Quality of education Requires Improvement
  >  Behaviour & Attitude Requires Improvement
  >  Personal Development Requires Improvement
  >  Leadership & Management Requires Improvement
  >  Early Years Provision Requires Improvement
Last Report Date 28 Nov 2023
Date Report
28 Nov 2023 School inspection:
09 Feb 2022 School inspection
17 Jan 2017 Short inspection
15 Mar 2016 Monitoring visit
08 Mar 2012 Full inspection:
25 Sep 2008 Full inspection:
20 Sep 2004 Full inspection

Strengths

  • Pupils feel safe and enjoy coming to school.
  • Pupils demonstrate a positive attitude towards learning.
  • Improvements in communication with parents have been noted.
  • Pupils with SEND are receiving more effective support.
  • Reading is prioritized and taught effectively across the school.

Areas for Improvement

  • Curriculum implementation does not build on previous knowledge consistently.
  • Misconceptions in learning are not always addressed.
  • Behaviour management policies are applied inconsistently.
  • Opportunities for pupils to develop talents through extracurricular activities are limited.

How many students meet the standards

Reading, Writing & Maths School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Pupils meeting the expected standard 29%
Pupils meeting a higher standard 6%

Average Scaled Score

Results are converted into scaled scores to allow accurate comparisons of performance over time even if the difficulty of the test varies over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120.

Subject School Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Reading 102
Maths 100

Progress Scores

A progress score is a way to measure how well a student progressed in comparison to other students of a similar starting ability. A score of zero means would mean that a student made the same progress as others that had a similar starting a ability. A positive score would mean that the student made more progress than other students of similar starting ability. The scores below are for the whole school so is the average progress score across all students.

Metric School Score Percentile (local) Percentile (nationwide)
Reading -0.1
Writing -2.1
Maths -3.6

How many students meet the standards

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Average Scaled Score

Results are converted into scaled scores to allow accurate comparisons of performance over time even if the difficulty of the test varies over time. Scaled scores range from 80 to 120.

Sample

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Progress Scores

A progress score is a way to measure how well a student progressed in comparison to other students of a similar starting ability. A score of zero means would mean that a student made the same progress as others that had a similar starting a ability. A positive score would mean that the student made more progress than other students of similar starting ability. The scores below are for the whole school so is the average progress score across all students.

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2025 Admissions

Number of Applications Number of Offers
First Preference
Second Preference 3 0
Third Preference 3 0
From another Local Authority 4 1

Previous Years

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