Redcastle Family School

Redcastle Family School is performing well overall, maintaining a good quality of education and fostering a supportive environment where pupils are happy and engaged in learning. The school has established a strong community atmosphere, and adults are committed to understanding and meeting the needs of each pupil. The curriculum is well-designed in many subjects, promoting detailed knowledge and skills development, although there are some areas where clarity in subject content is needed. The school effectively supports pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), ensuring they can learn alongside their peers, though individual learning plans occasionally lack specific detail.

Strengths

• Pupils are happy and safe in a supportive school environment.
• Strong focus on reading, with effective phonics teaching for early readers.
• Positive relationships between adults and pupils promote good behaviour.
• Pupils develop a strong sense of responsibility through various roles and activities.
• Effective leadership supports teachers and manages workloads well.
• The early years provision offers an excellent start for children.

Areas for Improvement

• Some subjects lack precise identification of knowledge and skills necessary for pupils.
• Individual learning plans for SEND pupils are sometimes too generic, hindering progress tracking.

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 Redcastle Family School attended 94.7% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.8% 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, 3.0% of pupils at Redcastle Family 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 Redcastle Family School had 18.0 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 12.3% 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, 16.6% of pupils at Redcastle Family School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 10.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 4.1%).

The school has a SEN unit with 26 pupils.

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 Redcastle Family School received £9,547 and spent £9,514 for each of its 265 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £115,000 (£436 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 Thetford · Norfolk local authority: places and applications

What is Redcastle Family School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Redcastle Family School is Good, from an inspection in January 2023.

When was Redcastle Family School last inspected by Ofsted?

Redcastle Family School was last inspected in January 2023.

How many pupils does Redcastle Family School have?

Redcastle Family School has 277 pupils on roll.

What age range does Redcastle Family School cover?

Redcastle Family School for pupils aged 2 to 11.

What are Redcastle Family School's SATs (KS2) results?

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

Where is Redcastle Family School?

Redcastle Family School is at St Martin's Way, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 3PU.