Millfields Primary School

Millfields Primary School is a caring, inclusive primary school where pupils are eager to learn, kind to one another and positive about school. This was the school's first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and its first section 5 inspection since 2014, when it was previously judged outstanding and exempt from routine inspection. Under the current inspection framework the school has not been given an overall effectiveness grade, but it was judged good in all key judgements: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years provision. The report highlights many strengths. Reading and phonics are particularly strong, with well-trained staff quickly identifying pupils who need extra support. Children in the early years are highly engaged and benefit from a language-rich environment. Pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported and learn alongside their peers. Behaviour is calm and purposeful, personal development is a strength, and pupils benefit from a wide range of clubs, trips and leadership roles. Governors provide effective support and challenge, staff are positive about leadership, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. The main area for improvement is the curriculum in some subjects. Although the curriculum is broad, ambitious and logically ordered overall, essential knowledge is not always taught as planned in some subjects. In these cases, staff do not consistently check what pupils already know, so pupils can develop gaps in their knowledge over time. The school must ensure that the precise knowledge it wants pupils to learn and remember is taught effectively in all subjects, and that checks on pupils' understanding identify and address any gaps.

Strengths

• Caring and inclusive school with positive relationships between staff and pupils.
• Pupils are kind, polite and have positive attitudes to learning.
• Staff have high expectations and pupils achieve well.
• Broad and ambitious curriculum is logically ordered, with strong progression in mathematics.
• Reading is at the heart of the curriculum and phonics is taught to a high standard.
• Pupils with SEND are well supported and learn effectively alongside their peers.
• Early years provision is strong, with language development central to children's learning.
• Behaviour around school and at breaktimes is calm and purposeful.
• Personal development is a strength, helping pupils build confidence, resilience and independence.
• Pupils benefit from a wide range of extra-curricular activities, trips and leadership roles.
• Governors provide an effective balance of support and challenge and fulfil statutory duties.
• Staff value how leaders and governors consider their workload and well-being.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, essential knowledge is not always taught as planned, leaving pupils with gaps.
• Checks on pupils' prior understanding are inconsistent in some subjects, so gaps are not always addressed.

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 Millfields Primary School attended 96.4% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 4.7% 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, 0.5% of pupils at Millfields 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 Millfields Primary School had 24.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 23.6% 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, 8.8% of pupils at Millfields Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.4% 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 Millfields Primary School received £6,321 and spent £6,332 for each of its 217 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £107,000 (£495 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 Millfields Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Millfields Primary School is Good, from an inspection in May 2025.

When was Millfields Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Millfields Primary School was last inspected in May 2025.

How many pupils does Millfields Primary School have?

Millfields Primary School has 217 pupils on roll.

What age range does Millfields Primary School cover?

Millfields Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Millfields Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 47% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Millfields Primary School?

Millfields Primary School is at Bowes Road, Wivenhoe, Colchester, Essex, CO7 9RD.