St Mary's Infants' School

St Mary's Infants' School has made commendable progress since its last inspection, which rated it as requiring improvement. Now, the school is recognized for its strong quality of education, excellent behavior and attitudes among pupils, and effective leadership. The school environment is positive, with pupils feeling well cared for and having high expectations set for them by their teachers. The curriculum is broad and ambitious, particularly excelling in early reading, where phonics is prioritized to build confidence and fluency in reading from a young age. However, there are some concerns regarding the consistency in behavior management and teaching approaches, which can lead to occasional disengagement from pupils.

Strengths

• Pupils demonstrate confidence, friendliness, and happiness.
• High expectations are set by teachers, which pupils understand.
• The curriculum is broad and ambitious, effectively preparing pupils for future learning.
• Reading is prioritized, and pupils are becoming confident and fluent readers.
• Strong support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).
• Pupils have opportunities to engage in a variety of extracurricular activities.
• A culture of respect and understanding of different faiths and cultures is fostered.

Areas for Improvement

• Some pupils' behavior does not consistently meet high expectations.
• Teachers sometimes do not use assessments effectively to gauge pupil understanding.
• Certain pedagogical approaches adopted by teachers are unhelpful.

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 St Mary's Infants' School attended 92.8% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 21.5% 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, 5.7% of pupils at St Mary's Infants' 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 St Mary's Infants' School had 13.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.2% 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, 20.7% of pupils at St Mary's Infants' School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 14.6% 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 St Mary's Infants' School received £11,330 and spent £11,434 for each of its 82 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £212,000 (£2,581 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 Baldock · Hertfordshire local authority: places and applications

What is St Mary's Infants' School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Mary's Infants' School is Good, from an inspection in September 2023.

When was St Mary's Infants' School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Mary's Infants' School was last inspected in September 2023.

How many pupils does St Mary's Infants' School have?

St Mary's Infants' School has 82 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Mary's Infants' School cover?

St Mary's Infants' School for pupils aged 4 to 7.

Where is St Mary's Infants' School?

St Mary's Infants' School is at St Mary's Way, Baldock, Hertfordshire, SG7 6HY.