St John Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Danbury

St John Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Danbury continues to demonstrate strong performance, providing a safe and nurturing environment where pupils thrive. The school promotes positive relationships and a broad curriculum, ensuring that students enjoy learning and feel proud of their achievements. With effective support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), their ability to progress alongside their peers is noteworthy. The school has been inspected previously in January 2018, and this recent ungraded inspection confirms the school's ongoing commitment to maintaining a high-quality education. Despite the positive findings, there are some areas for improvement, particularly regarding curriculum implementation in certain subjects. While most subject leaders are passionate and have high expectations for their pupils, the lack of consistent checks on teaching practices in a few subjects has led to knowledge gaps for some students. The school is encouraged to refine its monitoring processes and clarify the core content expected across all subjects to ensure that all pupils can recall and apply what they have learned effectively.

Strengths

• Pupils feel safe and develop positive relationships with staff.
• A broad and ambitious curriculum is in place.
• Strong support for pupils with SEND allows them to progress alongside peers.
• High-quality phonics teaching enhances reading skills from early years.
• Pupils participate actively in extracurricular activities and leadership roles.
• Staff feel valued and supported, contributing to a positive working environment.

Areas for Improvement

• Curriculum implementation is not consistent across all subjects.
• Some subjects lack clearly defined core content, leading to knowledge gaps.

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 St John Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Danbury attended 94.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 15.1% 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, 2.7% of pupils at St John Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Danbury 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 St John Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Danbury had 22.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 6.7% 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, 15.8% of pupils at St John Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Danbury were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.1% 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 St John Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Danbury received £6,810 and spent £6,978 for each of its 222 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £83,000 (£373 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 Chelmsford · Essex local authority: places and applications

What is St John Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Danbury's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St John Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Danbury is Good, from an inspection in October 2023.

When was St John Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Danbury last inspected by Ofsted?

St John Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Danbury was last inspected in October 2023.

How many pupils does St John Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Danbury have?

St John Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Danbury has 222 pupils on roll.

What age range does St John Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Danbury cover?

St John Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Danbury for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 71% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St John Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Danbury?

St John Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School Danbury is at Little Baddow Road, Danbury, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 4NS.