Greatworth Primary School

Greatworth Primary School is a small, friendly and caring village school where pupils are polite, well mannered and thrive on positive relationships with staff. Inspectors found provision consistently strong across the quality of education, behaviour and attitudes, personal development, leadership and management, and early years. This was the school’s first routine inspection since the COVID-19 pandemic, and under current arrangements no overall effectiveness grade was given. Safeguarding arrangements are effective. The school’s strengths include strong early reading, with children starting phonics straightaway, books carefully matched to known sounds, and pupils becoming fluent, avid readers. The curriculum is ambitious and thoughtfully tailored to Greatworth pupils and the local context, enriched by visits and designed to build knowledge over time. Pupils benefit from a wide range of memorable experiences, including museum and gallery visits, residential trips, sports clubs and performing arts, and they are empowered to organise clubs and take on responsibilities. Governors are strategic and effective, and staff are well supported with professional development and workload considerations. The main areas for improvement concern how the ambitious curriculum is delivered day to day. Learning activities do not consistently help pupils learn the intended knowledge, and some pupils do not secure what was planned. Teachers do not always use assessment information to adapt teaching, so misconceptions can go unaddressed and some pupils struggle to access activities or are given simple tasks that limit depth of understanding.

Strengths

• Friendly, caring community where pupils are polite and build positive relationships with staff.
• Wide range of memorable experiences, including museum and gallery visits, residential trips, sports clubs and performing arts.
• Pupils are empowered to organise clubs and take on responsibilities, helping them grow into confident individuals.
• Strong early reading provision: children start phonics straightaway, books match known sounds, and pupils become fluent, avid readers.
• Effective engagement with parents to support regular reading at home.
• Ambitious curriculum thoughtfully tailored to Greatworth pupils and local context, enriched by visits.
• Curriculum builds knowledge over time and Reception prepares children well for Year 1.
• Pupils are encouraged to use ambitious vocabulary, improving precision in subjects such as mathematics.
• Teaching is mostly well adapted for pupils with SEND, and the school understands their needs accurately.
• Regular cumulative quizzes help most pupils remember and verbalise their learning.
• Pupils behave well, show resilience and respond positively to the school’s ‘Yes, I can!’ motto.
• Pupils learn about life beyond their village and develop respect for different beliefs and cultures.
• Governors are strategic and effective in supporting and challenging the school.
• Staff receive well-considered professional development and support for workload, including help for new staff.

Areas for Improvement

• Learning activities do not consistently support pupils to learn the school’s ambitious curriculum.
• Some pupils do not learn the knowledge that was intended.
• Teachers do not consistently use assessment information to adapt teaching to individual pupils’ needs.
• Misconceptions sometimes go unaddressed, and some pupils struggle to access learning activities.
• Some pupils are given simple tasks that limit the depth of understanding they could secure.
• Tasks set for all pupils are not always suitable for securing or building on the intended 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 Greatworth Primary School attended 95.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 8.5% 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, 1.5% of pupils at Greatworth 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 Greatworth Primary School had 26.7 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 47.6% 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, 5.8% of pupils at Greatworth Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 1.2% 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 Greatworth Primary School received £6,780 and spent £7,073 for each of its 86 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £22,000 (£258 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 Banbury · West Northamptonshire local authority: places and applications

What is Greatworth Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Greatworth Primary School is Good, from an inspection in January 2025.

When was Greatworth Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Greatworth Primary School was last inspected in January 2025.

How many pupils does Greatworth Primary School have?

Greatworth Primary School has 86 pupils on roll.

What age range does Greatworth Primary School cover?

Greatworth Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

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

In 2025, 78% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Greatworth Primary School?

Greatworth Primary School is at Helmdon Road, Greatworth, Banbury, Oxfordshire, OX17 2DR.