Silchester Church of England Primary School

Silchester Church of England Primary School is a happy, harmonious and ambitious school that has improved markedly after a period of change. Inspectors found all key areas good: quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years. Pupils feel safe, behave well, attend regularly and achieve better than they did previously, with reading a particular strength from Reception onwards. The school's Christian vision and values support a warm community where pupils are polite, curious and involved in activities such as local visits and community litter-picking. Leadership is effective, governance is strong, staff well-being is considered, and safeguarding arrangements are effective. This was the first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic and followed the appointment of a new executive headteacher and head of school in September 2023. The main areas for improvement concern assessment and curriculum sequencing. In some subjects, the school has not yet established effective systems for checking how well pupils remember key knowledge, so teachers cannot always identify gaps and pupils do not achieve as well as they could. Lesson checks are sometimes not careful enough, meaning misconceptions are not picked up and addressed as quickly as possible. Adaptations for pupils with SEND are precise in reading, writing and mathematics, but the wider curriculum is newer and practice is still developing, although pupils with SEND achieve well overall.

Strengths

• Happy, harmonious community with a warm and friendly atmosphere
• High aspirations for all pupils; pupils now achieve much better
• Pupils feel safe and staff listen to their worries
• Good behaviour and positive attitudes; low-level disruption is rare
• Strong early years provision with high expectations from Reception
• Reading is a top priority; pupils read fluently by end of Year 2
• Effective support for pupils with SEND in reading, writing and mathematics
• Staff have strong subject knowledge and model ideas well
• High attendance and pupils enjoy being at school
• Strong personal development, character education and range of clubs/opportunities
• Effective governance and consideration of staff well-being
• Effective safeguarding arrangements

Areas for Improvement

• In some subjects, systems for checking pupils' recall of key knowledge are not fully established
• Teachers do not always check understanding carefully enough, so misconceptions can be missed
• Gaps in pupils' knowledge remain in a few subjects because assessment strategies are inconsistent
• Curriculum and SEND adaptations are newer in wider curriculum subjects and still developing

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 Silchester Church of England Primary School attended 96.9% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 3.9% 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, 1.2% of pupils at Silchester 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 Silchester Church of England Primary School had 19.6 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 11.8% 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, 18.6% of pupils at Silchester Church of England Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.8% 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 Silchester Church of England Primary School received £7,176 and spent £7,735 for each of its 156 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £300,000 (-£1,924 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 Silchester Church of England Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Silchester Church of England Primary School is Good, from an inspection in March 2025.

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

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

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

Silchester Church of England Primary School has 156 pupils on roll.

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

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

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

In 2025, 70% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Silchester Church of England Primary School?

Silchester Church of England Primary School is at School Lane, Silchester, Reading, Berkshire, RG7 2NJ.