Old Heath Community Primary School

Old Heath Community Primary School is a smaller-than-average community primary in an area of above-average deprivation. Pupils are happy, safe and proud of their school, and behaviour is strong. Early years is a clear strength: children get off to a positive start, and additional funding and staffing are used well to close gaps for disadvantaged children and those with SEND. Attendance is close to national averages, and the school is inclusive, with strong personal development and pupil voice. Safeguarding standards are met. Most other areas are at the expected standard, but two areas need attention. The curriculum is not yet consistently sequenced across all subjects, so pupils do not always build deeper knowledge over time, and teaching is not always aligned closely enough with the planned curriculum. Leadership and governance also need strengthening: monitoring and quality assurance are not rigorous enough, too much relies on the headteacher and informal approaches, leadership capacity is stretched by classroom teaching commitments, and governors do not consistently challenge leaders. The school's caring culture is a strength, but at times it reduces the challenge needed to secure consistently high-quality practice. Leaders know the school well and are committed to staff and pupils. The next steps are to sharpen curriculum sequencing, ensure consistent teaching and challenge for all pupils, and build stronger systems for evaluating the impact of the curriculum and provision.

Strengths

• Early years provision is a standout strength, with well-planned learning and strong support for disadvantaged children and those with SEND.
• Pupils are happy, proud of their school and demonstrate positive attitudes to learning.
• Behaviour is good, relationships are respectful, and pupils say bullying and discriminatory behaviour are rare.
• Attendance is close to national averages and persistent absence has reduced to national levels.
• The school is inclusive and welcoming, with staff knowing pupils and families well and removing barriers to learning.
• Leaders use pupil premium funding effectively, including in early years, to close gaps for disadvantaged children.
• Personal development is well considered, covering British values, wellbeing, relationships and wider experiences.
• Pupils have meaningful opportunities for leadership and decision-making through the school parliament.
• Phonics outcomes are above average, and key stage 2 attainment is broadly close to national averages.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture where concerns are identified and managed.
• Pupils with SEND make steady progress because staff understand their needs and provide appropriate support.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum sequencing and progression are inconsistent across subjects, limiting how deeply pupils build knowledge over time.
• In some subjects, pupils do not develop deeper or more complex knowledge as effectively as they could.
• Teaching is not consistently aligned with the planned curriculum, and misconceptions are not always addressed quickly enough.
• Pupils are not consistently expected to apply English and mathematics skills independently or across the wider curriculum.
• Older pupils are not consistently challenged appropriately or supported to reach the curriculum's ambitious end points.
• Monitoring, evaluation and quality assurance systems lack the structure and rigour needed to drive sustained improvement.
• Monitoring relies too heavily on the headteacher and informal approaches, limiting leaders' ability to evaluate impact.
• Leadership capacity is reduced by prioritising key staff for classroom teaching duties.
• Governors do not consistently provide sufficient challenge to hold leaders to account and evaluate improvement.
• The school's caring culture can reduce the level of challenge needed for consistently high-quality practice.
• Leaders do not yet evaluate the impact of the personal development offer well enough, including clubs and inclusion analysis.

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 Old Heath Community Primary School attended 95.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.0% 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 Old Heath 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 Old Heath Community Primary School had 23.3 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.0% 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, 11.0% of pupils at Old Heath Community Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 2.9% 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 Old Heath Community Primary School received £6,728 and spent £6,705 for each of its 209 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £250,000 (£1,198 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 Colchester · Essex local authority: places and applications

What is Old Heath Community Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Old Heath Community Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Old Heath Community Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Old Heath Community Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Old Heath Community Primary School have?

Old Heath Community Primary School has 209 pupils on roll.

What age range does Old Heath Community Primary School cover?

Old Heath Community Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 70% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Old Heath Community Primary School?

Old Heath Community Primary School is at Old Heath Road, Colchester, Essex, CO2 8DD.