St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School

St Michael’s is a Church of England voluntary aided primary school that was previously judged to require improvement. This inspection found the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development and early years provision all good, while leadership and management remains a weaker area. Pupils are happy and proud, behave well, and benefit from a broad curriculum that has become more ambitious since the last inspection, with particularly secure reading and early years practice. Strengths include consistently implemented phonics, strong Reception provision, inclusive support for pupils with SEND, a wide enrichment offer and effective safeguarding. Recent governance changes, including an interim executive board, have brought greater clarity and early signs of impact, but the arrangement is temporary and a permanent governing body still needs to be secured. The main concerns are that leadership does not yet have sufficiently robust oversight of how the curriculum is being implemented and how well pupils are learning, and some subjects are still at an earlier stage of development. Communication with staff and parents is not always clear or consistent, including for some families of pupils with SEND, and governance capacity needs sustained development.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy, proud and confident that staff listen to them
• Behaviour is strong; pupils are polite, kind and courteous
• Reading is a high priority with a consistent phonics programme from Reception
• Children in Reception get a strong start in well-resourced indoor and outdoor provision
• Provision for pupils with SEND is inclusive and adaptive
• The curriculum has become more ambitious, with well-structured teaching in English, mathematics and science
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of enrichment, clubs and leadership roles
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Staff are proud to work at the school
• Attendance is closely monitored and leaders work constructively with families

Areas for Improvement

• Governance remains temporary and lacks a permanent, effective governing body
• The school’s checks on curriculum implementation and impact are not sufficiently robust
• Leaders do not have clear oversight of how well pupils are learning the curriculum
• Some subjects remain in earlier stages of curriculum development
• Communication with staff and parents is not always clear or consistent
• Some parents want better communication about SEND support and how to help at home

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 Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School attended 95.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 9.9% 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, 1.7% of pupils at St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided 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 St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School had 25.8 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 26.4% 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, 17.8% of pupils at St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.6% 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 St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School received £6,639 and spent £6,227 for each of its 387 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £323,000 (£836 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 Braintree · Essex local authority: places and applications

What is St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School have?

St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School has 387 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School cover?

St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 52% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School?

St Michael's Church of England Voluntary Aided Primary School is at Maple Avenue, Braintree, Essex, CM7 2NS.