Cedars Primary School

Cedars Primary is a mainstream primary school in Newport Pagnell with 255 pupils. This was a full section 5 inspection, and safeguarding standards are met. Across the graded areas, the school is performing securely at expected standards, with particularly strong practice in attendance and behaviour and in early years. Pupils are happy, feel safe, behave very well, attend regularly, and are proud of their school. The school's notable strengths include highly thoughtful attendance work, consistent and inclusive behaviour approaches, and a well-sequenced early years curriculum. Reading and phonics are taught rigorously, pupils with SEND are identified and supported quickly, and disadvantaged pupils benefit from targeted interventions. Leadership is focused and determined, staff professional development is coherent, and governors are knowledgeable and diligent. Personal development, pastoral care, and extra-curricular opportunities are strong, and parents are generally very positive. There are still areas to improve. In some subjects, checks on pupils' understanding are not consistently effective, so errors or misconceptions can go unaddressed. Governors could sharpen their challenge to leaders, and published outcomes at the end of key stage 2 are not yet consistently above national averages in spelling, punctuation and grammar, reading, writing and mathematics. Historical outcomes have been mixed, disadvantaged pupils' performance shows gaps, particularly in mathematics, and some pupils could achieve more highly. Leaders have made recent improvements, especially in mathematics, but their full impact is not yet proven.

Strengths

• Highly thoughtful and systematic strategies for managing attendance, removing barriers effectively.
• Consistent and highly inclusive behaviour approaches; pupils behave excellently and bullying is rare.
• A highly effective early years curriculum that builds vocabulary and knowledge in small steps.
• Strong phonics and reading provision, helping pupils become fluent and accurate readers.
• Inclusive teaching with a sharp focus on pupils with SEND, whose needs are identified quickly.
• Leaders have a clear strategic overview and have improved mathematics through consistent staff training.
• Governors are knowledgeable, diligent and monitor reports, policies and data systematically.
• A coherent professional development programme that supports staff wellbeing and workload.
• Strong personal development, including online safety, health, relationships, first aid and varied clubs.
• Pastoral care is prioritised and pupils know who to turn to if they have worries.
• Disadvantaged pupils are supported through targeted interventions, including an effective intervention menu.
• Pupils are respectful, proud of their school, and have positive attitudes to learning.
• Parents are generally positive, describing the school as nurturing, caring and kind.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, checks on pupils' understanding are not consistently effective, so errors and misconceptions can persist.
• Governors could further develop their expertise to provide more targeted, robust challenge to leaders.
• Published outcomes at the end of key stage 2 are not yet consistently above national averages in spelling, punctuation and grammar, reading, writing and mathematics.
• Historical outcomes have been mixed, and the full impact of recent improvements is not yet proven.
• Disadvantaged pupils' performance shows gaps, particularly in mathematics, despite positive progress from starting points.
• A small proportion of disadvantaged pupils do not access as many extra-curricular activities as their peers.
• A small proportion of pupils could achieve more highly by the end of key stage 2.

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 Cedars Primary School attended 95.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.2% 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, 1.2% of pupils at Cedars 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 Cedars Primary School had 18.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 8.4% 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, 14.0% of pupils at Cedars Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 0.9% 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 Cedars Primary School received £7,082 and spent £7,421 for each of its 235 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £5,000 (£20 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 Newport Pagnell · Milton Keynes local authority: places and applications

What is Cedars Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Cedars Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in July 2026.

When was Cedars Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Cedars Primary School was last inspected in July 2026.

How many pupils does Cedars Primary School have?

Cedars Primary School has 235 pupils on roll.

What age range does Cedars Primary School cover?

Cedars Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Cedars Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 63% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Cedars Primary School?

Cedars Primary School is at Bury Street, Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, MK16 0DT.