Littleport Community Primary School

Littleport Community Primary School is a caring and happy school where pupils behave well and feel safe. Inspectors found the school performing well across the board: pupils achieve what they need for their next steps, teachers have strong subject knowledge, and provision for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities is effective, including through the Treehouse provision. Reading is well taught and pupils enjoy books, while attendance has improved after leaders took action. Staff morale is high and governors know the school well. This was the first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and followed a previous good judgement; under current arrangements no overall effectiveness grade is given. The main area for improvement is the early years. Leaders have redesigned the curriculum in key stages 1 and 2 but have not finished this work in the early years, so staff do not always know precisely what children must learn and children are not always fully prepared for key stage 1. In key stage 1, learning activities are not always sharply focused on the intended knowledge, which means pupils sometimes do not learn what was planned. Phonics screening results in 2024 were below the national average, although the school provides effective support and most pupils become fluent readers by the end of key stage 1. Overall, the school is well led and provides a good education, with effective safeguarding. The identified weaknesses are specific and fixable: the school needs to sharpen early years curriculum planning and make sure key stage 1 activities focus tightly on the knowledge pupils are expected to learn.

Strengths

• Caring community where pupils feel happy and safe
• Pupils behave well and show kindness and respect
• Strong subject knowledge and effective learning activities
• Effective provision for pupils with SEND, including Treehouse
• Well-developed approach to teaching reading and a well-stocked library
• Effective support helps pupils who find reading difficult become fluent by the end of key stage 1
• Leaders have reduced absences through effective support
• Pupils learn about the wider world and community through visits and charity events
• Governors are well equipped and hold leaders accountable
• High staff morale and strong professional development
• Early years children learn routines quickly and share and take turns
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• Early years curriculum planning does not precisely identify the knowledge children need
• Early years children are not always well prepared for key stage 1
• Key stage 1 learning activities do not always focus on the intended knowledge
• Pupils sometimes do not learn what the school has planned when activities lack focus
• Phonics screening performance in 2024 was below the national average

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 Littleport Community Primary School attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.4% 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, 1.0% of pupils at Littleport Community 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 Littleport Community Primary School had 22.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 3.3% 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, 17.5% of pupils at Littleport Community Primary School 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 Littleport Community Primary School received £6,633 and spent £6,691 for each of its 406 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £94,000 (£230 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 Ely · Cambridgeshire local authority: places and applications

What is Littleport Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Littleport Community Primary School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Littleport Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Littleport Community Primary School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Littleport Community Primary School have?

Littleport Community Primary School has 406 pupils on roll.

What age range does Littleport Community Primary School cover?

Littleport Community Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 64% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Littleport Community Primary School?

Littleport Community Primary School is at Parsons Lane, Littleport, Ely, Cambridgeshire, CB6 1JT.