Overstone Combined School

Overstone Combined School is a caring, happy and orderly primary school where pupils feel safe and are well supported. Behaviour and attitudes, personal development and early years provision are strong: children make a good start, pupils behave well, reading is prioritised, and safeguarding is effective. Leaders have created a warm environment and staff feel supported. However, the quality of education and leadership and management are not yet good. The ambitious curriculum is not delivered consistently, some teaching does not focus clearly enough on the most important knowledge, and assessment does not always give a sharp picture of what pupils know. As a result, pupils do not build their knowledge securely across all subjects. Disadvantaged pupils, including those with SEND, are a particular concern. Their barriers to learning are not always well understood, provision is not consistently well matched to their needs, and attendance strategies do not support some of these pupils well enough. Leaders and governors also need clearer oversight of how effectively the curriculum is meeting disadvantaged pupils’ needs.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, safe and well supported in a caring school.
• Staff have high expectations for behaviour and apply them consistently.
• High-quality pastoral care prioritises pupils’ well-being and mental health.
• Pupils benefit from well-considered personal development experiences, including enterprise day and safety trips.
• Children make a strong start in the early years, with positive habits in turn-taking, sharing and listening.
• Pupils become confident communicators and can discuss and justify their views.
• Reading is prioritised highly; phonics starts in Reception and pupils read accurately and fluently.
• Pupils with SEND are identified swiftly and accurately, and pupils with EHC plans are well supported.
• Behaviour is calm and orderly, and pupils show kindness and respect.
• Leaders have created a warm, welcoming environment and staff feel supported.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• The curriculum is ambitious but not delivered consistently across subjects.
• The key knowledge pupils should learn is sometimes unclear in lessons.
• Teaching sometimes does not allow pupils to explore new learning in enough depth.
• Some staff lack the expertise to implement the curriculum effectively.
• Assessment checks do not always give a clear picture of what pupils know and can do.
• Gaps in pupils’ knowledge are not always addressed swiftly.
• Tasks are sometimes too simplistic and do not match pupils’ understanding.
• Barriers to learning for some disadvantaged pupils, including those with SEND, are not well understood.
• Some staff are not skilled enough at adapting the curriculum for disadvantaged pupils.
• Leaders and governors do not have sufficiently clear oversight of how well the curriculum meets disadvantaged pupils’ needs.
• Attendance strategies do not help some pupils, particularly disadvantaged pupils, attend as regularly as they should.

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 Overstone Combined School attended 93.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 18.8% 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, 5.0% of pupils at Overstone Combined 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 Overstone Combined School had 17.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 27.3% 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, 12.8% of pupils at Overstone Combined School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has a SEN unit with 3 pupils.

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 Overstone Combined School received £8,146 and spent £9,605 for each of its 180 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £320,000 (-£1,778 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 Buckinghamshire · Buckinghamshire local authority: places and applications

What is Overstone Combined School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Overstone Combined School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in September 2025.

When was Overstone Combined School last inspected by Ofsted?

Overstone Combined School was last inspected in September 2025.

How many pupils does Overstone Combined School have?

Overstone Combined School has 180 pupils on roll.

What age range does Overstone Combined School cover?

Overstone Combined School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Overstone Combined School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 44% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Overstone Combined School?

Overstone Combined School is at Church Street, Wing, Buckinghamshire, LU7 0NY.