Astley CofE Primary School

Astley CofE Primary School is a small Church of England primary school in the Diocese of Worcester. Inspectors found the school performing at a strong standard overall, with safeguarding standards met. Its early years provision, inclusion, and personal development and wellbeing are particular strengths: children get off to a rapid start, pupils with SEND and disadvantaged pupils are well supported, and the school’s pastoral and outdoor learning offer helps pupils feel safe, confident and valued. Pupils behave well, relationships are warm, and governance and staff development are effective. However, several areas are judged at the expected standard rather than strong. Achievement is steady but not consistently strong, and the most able pupils are not challenged enough. Some tasks are not precisely matched to pupils’ needs, handwriting varies, and errors in written work are not always corrected. Attendance is generally good, but attendance for pupils with SEND remains below leaders’ expectations, and some pupils do not push themselves to achieve their best. The school has clear priorities: strengthen writing, raise achievement of the most able, and keep attendance high. Leaders and governors know the school well and are committed to further improvement. The next steps focus on ensuring consistently high expectations and adapting learning precisely so all pupils achieve as well as they should.

Strengths

• Highly inclusive culture with swift, accurate identification of pupils’ needs and well-targeted support.
• Very high-quality early years provision that ensures children make rapid progress from their starting points.
• Strong phonics teaching and early reading development.
• Effective personal development programme covering online safety, mental health and relationships and sex education.
• Strong pastoral care and an open safeguarding culture where pupils feel safe and supported.
• Outdoor learning that builds confidence, resilience and risk-management skills.
• Good behaviour, with rare bullying and positive social times.
• Strong governance, with governors asking challenging questions and supporting improvement.
• Positive relationships with parents and effective support for staff wellbeing and professional development.
• Effective use of additional funding and a whole-family approach to remove barriers for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.

Areas for Improvement

• Most able pupils are not challenged enough across the curriculum.
• Tasks and activities do not always precisely match pupils’ needs.
• Pupils do not always push themselves to achieve their best, and some find learning too easy.
• Attendance for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities remains below leaders’ expectations.
• Handwriting quality is inconsistent, particularly for older pupils.
• Errors in pupils’ written work are not consistently corrected.
• Expectations of what pupils can achieve are not consistently high enough to develop dedication to learning.

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 Astley CofE Primary School attended 94.8% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Astley CofE 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 Astley CofE Primary School had 14.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 18.2% 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 Astley CofE Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 6.6% 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 Astley CofE Primary School received £9,141 and spent £9,618 for each of its 91 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £9,000 (£99 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 Stourport-On-Severn · Worcestershire local authority: places and applications

What is Astley CofE Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Astley CofE Primary School is Expected standard, from an inspection in June 2026.

When was Astley CofE Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Astley CofE Primary School was last inspected in June 2026.

How many pupils does Astley CofE Primary School have?

Astley CofE Primary School has 91 pupils on roll.

What age range does Astley CofE Primary School cover?

Astley CofE Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 50% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Astley CofE Primary School?

Astley CofE Primary School is at School Lane, Astley, Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, DY13 0RH.