Kingsholm Church of England Primary School

Kingsholm Church of England Primary School is a welcoming and caring school where pupils feel safe and trust adults to deal with concerns, including bullying, quickly. Inspectors found effective safeguarding and a strong early years provision, with children getting a secure start and leaving well prepared for Year 1. Reading is a clear priority, phonics support helps pupils keep up, and recent curriculum changes are beginning to improve learning in subjects such as mathematics and physical education. The school has also improved its SEND systems, including specialist hubs for pupils with the highest needs, and behaviour is improving. However, the school has faced a challenging period of leadership and staffing changes, and a weak curriculum has affected pupils’ learning. Although interim leadership has taken decisive action and governors now provide more probing challenge, many recent improvements have not yet had time to make a full impact. Some pupils have not achieved well enough by the end of Year 6, and expectations are not upheld consistently by all staff, particularly in writing. Inspectors judged most areas as requiring improvement, while early years provision was good. In some subjects, the precise knowledge pupils need to learn and revisit is not clear, and oversight of how well the curriculum is implemented is not fully effective. Some pupils are still absent too often, and pupils have limited opportunities to take on responsibilities or contribute actively to school life.

Strengths

• Caring relationships help pupils feel happy and safe.
• Pupils trust adults to act quickly on concerns, including bullying.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.
• Early years provision is good and prepares children well for Year 1.
• Reading is prioritised, with effective phonics support for pupils who fall behind.
• Recent curriculum revisions are beginning to improve pupils’ learning in some subjects.
• SEND identification has improved, with specialist hubs supporting pupils with the highest needs.
• Behaviour expectations are rising and incidents of misbehaviour have declined.
• Attendance systems have improved, with early signs of progress.
• Most staff support the school’s leadership and direction of travel.
• Pupils learn mental health and self-esteem strategies and understand discrimination.
• Governors provide more probing challenge to support school improvement.

Areas for Improvement

• The quality of education requires improvement, with the curriculum not yet fully embedded across key stages 1 and 2.
• Some subjects do not clearly identify the precise knowledge pupils need to learn and revisit.
• Teachers’ expectations of pupils’ written work are inconsistent, affecting handwriting, punctuation and presentation.
• Oversight of how well the curriculum is implemented is not fully effective in some subjects.
• Some pupils are absent from school too often and miss essential learning.
• Pupils have limited opportunities to take on responsibilities across the school.
• Personal development is limited by the lack of opportunities for pupils to contribute positively to school life.
• Behaviour and attitudes require improvement, with a minority of pupils needing reminders about routines.
• Leadership and management require improvement following instability and recent staffing changes.

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 Kingsholm Church of England Primary School attended 92.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 21.9% 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, 1.5% of pupils at Kingsholm Church of England 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 Kingsholm Church of England Primary School had 22.9 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 51.3% 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, 21.7% of pupils at Kingsholm Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.0% 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 Kingsholm Church of England Primary School received £7,700 and spent £7,265 for each of its 605 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £447,000 (£738 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).

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What is Kingsholm Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Kingsholm Church of England Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in March 2025.

When was Kingsholm Church of England Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Kingsholm Church of England Primary School was last inspected in March 2025.

How many pupils does Kingsholm Church of England Primary School have?

Kingsholm Church of England Primary School has 605 pupils on roll.

What age range does Kingsholm Church of England Primary School cover?

Kingsholm Church of England Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Kingsholm Church of England Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 56% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Kingsholm Church of England Primary School?

Kingsholm Church of England Primary School is at Guinea Street, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL1 3BN.