Great Waltham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Great Waltham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School is a calm, inclusive and well-led school where pupils feel safe and typically achieve in line with national averages. Leaders have built an ambitious, clearly sequenced curriculum, with reading a high priority from the early years, and staff support pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged pupils well. Attendance is broadly average, behaviour is positive, and personal development and wellbeing are strong, including effective pastoral care and a wide range of wider opportunities. Governance, staff development and safeguarding are also effective. The main areas for improvement are the precise use of assessment to help all pupils build consistently on prior learning, and ensuring that pupils develop accurate and legible handwriting. Published assessment data for 2024/25 shows combined reading, writing and mathematics outcomes below national averages, and disadvantaged pupils’ outcomes are below national non-disadvantaged comparisons, although the report notes that these pupils generally achieve well from their starting points. This is a Church of England voluntary controlled primary school with no resourced SEND provision; inspectors found safeguarding standards met.

Strengths

• Reading is a high priority across the school, including frequent early reading opportunities in the early years.
• Children in the early years develop reading fluency and a love of reading.
• Pupils remember important content over time and talk confidently about previous learning.
• Pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils generally achieve well from their starting points.
• Staff identify gaps in learning quickly and provide effective support.
• Attendance is broadly in line with national averages, with proactive support for pupils who need help to attend regularly.
• Pupils typically behave well, and staff maintain calm, clear routines.
• Pupils say bullying is rare, and staff act quickly and fairly when concerns arise.
• The curriculum is ambitious, clearly sequenced and organised around clear end points.
• Leaders support staff well to develop subject expertise and teach the curriculum effectively.
• Early years staff build warm relationships and provide a calm, nurturing environment.
• Inclusion is central to the school’s work, with effective adaptations for pupils with additional needs.
• Leaders are highly dedicated and use their strong understanding of the school’s context to guide improvement.
• Governors are proactive, well informed and provide appropriate support and challenge.
• Personal development and wellbeing are coherently planned, with strong pastoral support and personalised help for vulnerable pupils.
• Pupils benefit from a broad range of wider opportunities, including performances, visits, residential experiences and charitable projects.
• Safeguarding standards are met, with an open culture in which concerns are actively identified and managed.

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment information is not always used precisely enough to help all pupils build consistently on their previous learning.
• Some pupils need further support to develop accurate and legible handwriting.
• 2024/25 national assessment outcomes in combined reading, writing and mathematics were below national averages.
• Disadvantaged pupils’ national assessment outcomes are below national non-disadvantaged comparisons, with a large gap in combined reading, writing and mathematics.
• A few pupils occasionally need reminders to stay focused.

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 Great Waltham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School attended 95.1% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 11.6% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Great Waltham 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 Great Waltham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School had 26.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.2% 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, 14.1% of pupils at Great Waltham Church of England Voluntary 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 Great Waltham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School received £6,625 and spent £6,387 for each of its 191 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £176,000 (£920 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 Great Waltham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Great Waltham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in October 2026.

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

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

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

Great Waltham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School has 191 pupils on roll.

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

Great Waltham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School for pupils aged 5 to 11.

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

In 2025, 54% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Great Waltham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School?

Great Waltham Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School is at South Street, Great Waltham, Chelmsford, Essex, CM3 1DF.