Castle Camps Church of England (Controlled) Primary School

Castle Camps Church of England (Controlled) Primary School is a small, happy and inclusive primary school where pupils behave well, feel cared for and enjoy learning. Inspectors found the school to be good across all key judgements: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. The school is ambitious for all pupils, including those with SEND, and pupils with SEND learn alongside their peers in the same broad curriculum. Reading is a notable strength, with a well-structured phonics programme starting as soon as children begin school, and pupils quickly become confident and fluent readers. Mathematics is also well planned, and the personal development curriculum is described as a strength. Pupils are kind, polite and demonstrate excellent manners, and they learn with little disruption. The early years provision is calm and thoughtfully organised, helping children settle successfully and develop curiosity. Governors provide effective support and challenge, staff are positive about working at the school, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and it remains good following its previous good inspection. The main area for improvement is that a few subjects are still being redeveloped. In these subjects, the precise knowledge pupils should learn and remember has not been clearly identified, and assessment is less effective than in other subjects. As a result, some pupils develop gaps in their knowledge. The school has been asked to identify the precise knowledge it wants pupils to know in all subjects and to embed effective assessment strategies across the curriculum.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, kind and inclusive, and behave well at all times.
• The school is ambitious for all pupils, including those with SEND.
• Pupils with SEND are accurately identified and supported to learn alongside their peers.
• The phonics programme is well structured and starts as soon as children begin school.
• Staff are trained to teach phonics effectively and help pupils catch up quickly.
• Pupils develop positive attitudes to reading and become confident, fluent readers.
• The mathematics curriculum is ambitious and well planned from Reception to Year 6.
• The personal development curriculum is a strength and offers a broad range of opportunities.
• Children in the early years settle well and thrive in a calm, thoughtfully organised environment.
• Governors provide an effective balance of support and challenge.
• Staff are extremely positive about working at the school and appreciate support for workload and well-being.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In a few subjects, curriculums are being redeveloped and the most important knowledge is not precisely identified.
• Assessment is less established in some subjects, so gaps in pupils’ knowledge are not always checked effectively.
• Some pupils do not always accumulate knowledge in a logical way in subjects where curriculum planning is less precise.

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 Castle Camps Church of England (Controlled) Primary School attended 96.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.5% 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, 0.8% of pupils at Castle Camps Church of England (Controlled) 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 Castle Camps Church of England (Controlled) Primary School had 18.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 14.1% 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, 18.4% of pupils at Castle Camps Church of England (Controlled) Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.6% 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 Castle Camps Church of England (Controlled) Primary School received £7,484 and spent £7,620 for each of its 123 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £21,000 (-£173 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).

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What is Castle Camps Church of England (Controlled) Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Castle Camps Church of England (Controlled) Primary School is Good, from an inspection in October 2024.

When was Castle Camps Church of England (Controlled) Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Castle Camps Church of England (Controlled) Primary School was last inspected in October 2024.

How many pupils does Castle Camps Church of England (Controlled) Primary School have?

Castle Camps Church of England (Controlled) Primary School has 125 pupils on roll.

What age range does Castle Camps Church of England (Controlled) Primary School cover?

Castle Camps Church of England (Controlled) Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

What are Castle Camps Church of England (Controlled) Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

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

Where is Castle Camps Church of England (Controlled) Primary School?

Castle Camps Church of England (Controlled) Primary School is at Church Lane, Castle Camps, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB21 4TH.