Fowlmere Primary School

Fowlmere Primary School is an inviting, friendly school where pupils feel safe, behave well and attend frequently. Staff build positive relationships, and pupils benefit from a well-established reading, writing and mathematics curriculum, strong phonics and reading support, a good early years start, and a personal development programme that covers relationships, health, safety and the wider world. Safeguarding is effective. The quality of education and leadership and management require improvement. In some subjects beyond reading, writing and mathematics, pupils do not get enough opportunities to revisit prior learning or use effective recall strategies, which limits progress. The school’s oversight of special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is not accurate enough: needs are not always identified precisely, support adaptations are sometimes ineffective, and staff have not had sufficient guidance. Governors are committed and have gained extra expertise and training, but their challenge and support, including oversight of SEND, are not rigorous enough. This was the school’s first graded inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was not given an overall effectiveness grade under current arrangements. The school is a maintained primary with 77 pupils on roll, an interim headteacher who started in January 2024, and one unregistered alternative provision.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and enjoy attending the school.
• Staff build positive relationships with pupils and welcome them each day.
• The reading, writing and mathematics curriculums are well established and well sequenced.
• Reading is a strength, with expert phonics teaching and effective support for pupils who need it.
• Children get a positive start in the early years through rich, engaging activities indoors and outdoors.
• Pupils behave well, are polite and learn in a calm, orderly environment.
• Attendance is closely monitored and families are supported to overcome barriers.
• The personal development programme teaches relationships, cultures and faiths, health and online safety.
• Pupils have opportunities to take responsibility, such as through the school council and junior play leader roles.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Governors are committed and have accessed additional training and guidance.

Areas for Improvement

• The quality of education requires improvement because pupils’ experiences vary across subjects.
• In some subjects, pupils lack sufficient opportunities to revisit previous learning and deepen their understanding.
• Teachers do not routinely use effective strategies to help pupils recall previously taught content, limiting progress in some subjects.
• The school does not have an accurate enough overview of pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• Staff do not always identify pupils’ specific SEND precisely enough.
• Some adaptations for pupils with SEND are not effective enough to ensure they learn as well as they should.
• Staff have not had sufficient support and guidance to understand the specific needs of pupils with SEND.
• Governors’ challenge and support are not as rigorous as they could be.
• Governors have not had clear oversight of how the school supports pupils with SEND.

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 Fowlmere Primary School attended 96.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 5.9% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Fowlmere 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 Fowlmere Primary School had 15.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 21.4% 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, 12.3% of pupils at Fowlmere Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.4% 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 Fowlmere Primary School received £8,077 and spent £9,331 for each of its 73 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £62,000 (-£850 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 Royston · Cambridgeshire local authority: places and applications

What is Fowlmere Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Fowlmere Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Fowlmere Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Fowlmere Primary School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Fowlmere Primary School have?

Fowlmere Primary School has 73 pupils on roll.

What age range does Fowlmere Primary School cover?

Fowlmere Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 25% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Fowlmere Primary School?

Fowlmere Primary School is at The Butts, Fowlmere, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 7SL.