Sawtry Infants' School

Sawtry Infants’ School is a good school, with good judgements across the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. This was its first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and the report notes that the headteacher started in May 2023 and that the school has expanded its admissions number. Pupils are happy and safe, benefit from a warm welcome and high expectations, and are achieving more, including in reading where recent phonics changes have brought rapid improvement. The school has a well-structured curriculum, positive behaviour, a well-planned personal development programme and strong communication with parents, which has helped improve attendance. Safeguarding is effective, and staff value the training and support they receive. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified and generally well supported. The main areas for improvement are in early years writing, where children do not consistently get purposeful practice that connects phonics to writing, and in SEND provision, where short-term targets are not always precise, measurable or aligned with long-term goals, which can slow progress. Assessment systems in a few foundation subjects are also still being refined.

Strengths

• Pupils and parents receive a warm welcome and pupils feel happy and safe
• Recent phonics changes have brought rapid improvement and growing pupil confidence
• The curriculum is well thought through and clearly structured
• Early years provision has more structure and clear purpose in activity stations
• Pupils with SEND are identified and their needs are generally met well
• Pupils behave politely and resiliently in a positive learning environment
• Personal development is well planned through PSHE and wider activities
• Strong communication with parents has helped raise attendance
• Staff value the strong focus on training, expertise and well-being
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective

Areas for Improvement

• Early years writing and transcription work is not precise enough and lacks regular purposeful practice linked to phonics
• Short-term targets for pupils with SEND are not always aligned with long-term goals and are not reviewed precisely enough
• Assessment systems in a few foundation subjects are still being finetuned

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 Sawtry Infants' School attended 95.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.4% 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, 1.5% of pupils at Sawtry Infants' 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 Sawtry Infants' School had 19.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.8% 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, 10.0% of pupils at Sawtry Infants' School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.2% 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 Sawtry Infants' School received £6,602 and spent £6,685 for each of its 211 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £184,000 (£871 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 Huntingdon · Cambridgeshire local authority: places and applications

What is Sawtry Infants' School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Sawtry Infants' School is Good, from an inspection in November 2024.

When was Sawtry Infants' School last inspected by Ofsted?

Sawtry Infants' School was last inspected in November 2024.

How many pupils does Sawtry Infants' School have?

Sawtry Infants' School has 211 pupils on roll.

What age range does Sawtry Infants' School cover?

Sawtry Infants' School for pupils aged 4 to 7.

Where is Sawtry Infants' School?

Sawtry Infants' School is at Middlefield Road, Sawtry, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, PE28 5SH.