Broadwindsor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Broadwindsor Church of England Primary is a small village school that has been through a turbulent period of leadership, staffing and governance change, a falling roll and a reduction to three classes. New leadership, in post since September 2025, has an accurate and realistic view of what needs to improve, has begun raising expectations, and is well supported by staff, but most of the work is at an early stage and its impact is not yet visible. Safeguarding standards are met and pupils say they are happy and safe, with a positive start for children in the early years. The strongest provision is in the early years, where a stable team has built a secure curriculum, effective phonics teaching and nurturing relationships, so most children leave well prepared for Year 1. Phonics is also taught well further up the school, pupils do well in the Year 4 multiplication tables check, disadvantaged pupils achieve in line with national peers by the end of key stage 2, pastoral support is effective, and pupils are generally polite with little bullying. However, the quality of education across the rest of the school is uneven. Previous reliance on intensive catch-up support for older pupils masked weaknesses in curriculum and teaching, leaving pupils with patchy or superficial knowledge in much of the wider curriculum and weak basic writing skills. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, whose numbers have risen sharply, do not consistently get the precise support they need, and staff do not use assessment well enough to match work to pupils' starting points. Behaviour in lessons is variable, attendance dipped last year with persistent absence now above average, and the personal development offer lacks coherence, leaving pupils with limited understanding of faiths beyond Christianity and a patchy grasp of fundamental British values. Governors have not held leaders to account rigorously enough, though they have begun to address this.

Strengths

• Early years provision is secure, well led and gives children a strong start
• Phonics is taught effectively, with struggling readers identified and supported quickly
• Pupils achieve well in the Year 4 multiplication tables check
• Disadvantaged pupils achieve in line with national peers by the end of key stage 2
• Pastoral support is effective and responds swiftly when pupils' circumstances change
• Pupils are polite and courteous, and bullying is rare and dealt with effectively
• Staff are overwhelmingly supportive of leadership and feel well supported with workload and wellbeing
• New leaders have an accurate, realistic view of the school's strengths and weaknesses
• Pupils from all backgrounds, including mid-year joiners, feel welcomed and valued
• Pupils enjoy a wide range of clubs, trips and residential visits, with barriers to participation removed
• The school has effective processes for early identification of pupils needing extra help
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture of safeguarding

Areas for Improvement

• Pupils' knowledge across much of the wider curriculum is weak, patchy or superficial
• Intensive catch-up support for older pupils previously masked weaknesses in curriculum and teaching
• Pupils with SEND do not achieve well from their starting points and receive imprecise support
• Learning plans for pupils with SEND set targets that are too broad
• Teaching does not build well enough on what pupils already know, so work is sometimes too easy or too hard
• Basic writing skills such as handwriting, spelling, punctuation and grammar are weak across the curriculum
• Staff do not correct errors in written work, so misconceptions persist
• Some staff have not received the training needed to deliver aspects of the curriculum effectively
• Pupils' attitudes to learning are variable, with too many losing focus or disrupting lessons
• The personal development programme is not coherently planned or sequenced
• Pupils have limited understanding of religions beyond Christianity and a patchy grasp of British values
• Governors have not held leaders rigorously to account and previously had an overgenerous view of the school
• Leadership, staffing and governance changes, a falling roll and class reorganisation have unsettled the school community
• Persistent absence is above the national average following a dip in overall attendance last year
• Leaders' systems for overseeing SEND provision have not kept pace with the sharp rise in 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 Broadwindsor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School attended 94.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 17.6% 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, 3.2% of pupils at Broadwindsor Church of England Voluntary 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 Broadwindsor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School had 19.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 20.8% 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, 17.2% of pupils at Broadwindsor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 14.0% 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 Broadwindsor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School received £8,768 and spent £8,651 for each of its 93 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £22,000 (£235 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 Broadwindsor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Broadwindsor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Broadwindsor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Broadwindsor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Broadwindsor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School have?

Broadwindsor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School has 93 pupils on roll.

What age range does Broadwindsor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School cover?

Broadwindsor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 60% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Broadwindsor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School?

Broadwindsor Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School is at Drimpton Road, Broadwindsor, Beaminster, Dorset, DT8 3QL.