Great Doddington Primary

Great Doddington Primary is a good school overall, with outstanding personal development and good quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, leadership and management, and early years provision. Inspectors found a calm, purposeful and welcoming school where pupils feel safe, behave well and embrace the school’s values. The well-sequenced curriculum, including in Reception, is ambitious for all pupils and is helping current pupils achieve well after previously low outcomes in mathematics and writing. Pupils benefit from strong wider development, including excellent understanding of British values, a wide range of clubs and opportunities to take on responsibility. The main areas for improvement concern consistency. Some staff do not implement the planned reading curriculum consistently, so some pupils do not become fluent readers as soon as they could. In some lessons, staff do not adapt learning or provide appropriate support, particularly for some pupils with SEND, meaning these pupils do not achieve as well as they should. Safeguarding is effective, and governors provide effective support and challenge. The school is part of the Green Shoots Partnership and serves 123 pupils aged 4 to 11; its previous inspection grade was requires improvement.

Strengths

• Well-planned, sequenced and ambitious curriculum from Reception
• Pupils behave well and benefit from a calm, purposeful learning environment
• Personal development is outstanding, including excellent understanding of British values
• Pupils feel safe and are supported through a restorative approach
• Strong phonics teaching and daily reading sessions in the early years
• SEND needs are identified quickly and external support is used effectively
• Governors provide effective support and challenge, and staff feel valued
• A wide range of clubs and opportunities broaden pupils’ horizons beyond the village
• Early years children learn to communicate, cooperate and start reading from their first day

Areas for Improvement

• Some staff do not implement the planned reading curriculum consistently, limiting some pupils’ reading fluency
• Staff do not always adapt lessons or provide appropriate support, particularly for some pupils with SEND
• Some pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they should when support is inconsistent

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 Great Doddington Primary attended 95.5% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 6.3% 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, 0.8% of pupils at Great Doddington Primary 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 Great Doddington Primary had 19.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 27.6% 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, 21.4% of pupils at Great Doddington Primary were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 5.6% 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 Great Doddington Primary received £8,423 and spent £8,996 for each of its 126 pupils. It ended the year with a deficit of £159,000 (-£1,260 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

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What is Great Doddington Primary's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Great Doddington Primary is Good, from an inspection in June 2025.

When was Great Doddington Primary last inspected by Ofsted?

Great Doddington Primary was last inspected in June 2025.

How many pupils does Great Doddington Primary have?

Great Doddington Primary has 126 pupils on roll.

What age range does Great Doddington Primary cover?

Great Doddington Primary for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Great Doddington Primary's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 56% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Great Doddington Primary?

Great Doddington Primary is at Church Lane, Great Doddington, Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, NN29 7TR.