Ashleworth Church of England Primary School

Ashleworth Church of England Primary School is a very small primary school, with 15 pupils on roll at the time of inspection and high proportions of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND or EHC plans. It has been judged to require special measures because it is failing to provide an acceptable standard of education, and leaders and governors have not demonstrated the capacity to secure necessary improvement. Safeguarding is met, and pupils generally feel safe; bullying is not typically an issue, and pupils have some positive experiences through leadership roles, assemblies, and learning about values and different faiths. However, the overall picture is one of serious weakness across the school. Inspectors found urgent improvement is needed in achievement, attendance and behaviour, curriculum and teaching, inclusion, and leadership and governance. Pupils do not achieve well, lack essential knowledge and skills, and are not ready for secondary school. Attendance and persistent absence are too high, behaviour is inconsistent, and teaching does not deliver the curriculum effectively, with staff lacking expertise and expectations too low. Pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are particularly poorly served, and the school is overly reliant on external support. Personal development and wellbeing requires attention: the programme is underdeveloped and pupils have few opportunities to broaden their horizons or develop talents. The school has a Church of England religious character, works in formal partnership with another local school, and has experienced high staff turnover and a recent change of executive headteacher. Leaders have revised plans to reflect the urgency, but these are too recent to have had an impact.

Strengths

• Safeguarding standards are met and pupils generally feel safe.
• Staff typically deal with bullying effectively, and bullying is not usually an issue.
• Older pupils play positively with younger pupils on the playground.
• Pupils take on leadership roles such as school councillors, playground leaders and librarians.
• Pupils learn about other faiths and cultures and develop some understanding of life in modern Britain.
• Pupils learn about moral and topical issues through assemblies and visitors, helping them become empathetic and caring.
• Pupils understand stereotypes, discrimination, online safety and healthy lifestyles.
• Pupils show mature and considerate views about how family structures can differ.
• Appropriate pastoral support is in place for pupils.
• The school works proactively with families to improve attendance and uses external support where appropriate.
• Governors are committed to the school.
• Staff want the best for pupils.
• Statutory duties for relationships, sex and health education are fulfilled.

Areas for Improvement

• The school requires special measures because it is failing to provide an acceptable standard of education.
• Leaders and governors lack the capacity to secure the necessary improvement without heavy external support.
• Pupils do not achieve well and many lack age-appropriate knowledge and skills in the national curriculum.
• Gaps in pupils' knowledge have not been addressed and continue to widen.
• Pupils are not ready for their next stage of education or for secondary school.
• Pupils do not master the basics of reading, writing and mathematics.
• Pupils struggle to write fluently and accurately, with poor letter formation and pencil grip.
• Overall absence and persistent absence are too high.
• Many pupils' attitudes to learning are not positive and their attention often drifts.
• Poor behaviour disrupts learning, and leaders' actions to tackle it are inconsistent.
• Staff feel unsupported in dealing with disorderly or disengaged behaviour.
• Teaching is poor and the broad curriculum is not delivered effectively.
• Staff lack the expertise to implement the curriculum well and have low expectations of pupils.
• Teachers do not use prior learning to match tasks to the knowledge pupils need to gain.
• There are weaknesses in teaching basic skills such as handwriting and phonics.
• Errors and misconceptions in pupils' work are not routinely corrected.
• Support for pupils with SEND is poor; they are overly reliant on adult support and frequently disengage.
• Additional funding for disadvantaged pupils has little impact, and their achievement is low.
• Leaders' view of teaching quality is inaccurate and they do not hold staff to account well enough.
• Frequent staffing changes and recent training have had little impact, and staff morale is low.
• Staff and leaders do not share the same vision, and staff lack confidence in leaders.
• Governors are overstretched and unable to hold the school to account effectively.
• The school is overly reliant on external support.
• Personal development is underdeveloped, with few opportunities to develop talents or experience life beyond the locality.
• Some pupils lack confidence that adults will sort out issues, particularly regarding other pupils' behaviour.

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 Ashleworth Church of England Primary School attended 85.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 40.0% 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, 13.0% of pupils at Ashleworth 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 2024–25 Ashleworth Church of England Primary School had 8.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.8). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 33.3% 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 2024–25 Ashleworth Church of England Primary School received £13,968 and spent £14,280 for each of its 23 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £79,000 (£3,441 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 Ashleworth Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Ashleworth Church of England Primary School is Urgent improvement, from an inspection in June 2026.

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

Ashleworth Church of England Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

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

Ashleworth Church of England Primary School has 15 pupils on roll.

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

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

Where is Ashleworth Church of England Primary School?

Ashleworth Church of England Primary School is at The Green, Ashleworth, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, GL19 4HT.