St Leonard's Primary School

St Leonard’s Primary is a friendly, inclusive school where pupils are confident, happy and feel safe. Behaviour and personal development are strong, with effective promotion of core values, respect, pupil leadership roles and a wide range of enrichment. Early years provision gives children, including those with SEND, a strong start, and reading is a clear priority with a new phonics programme supporting fluency and confidence. Leadership is effective, staff value recent changes and professional development, and governors have an accurate view of the school. The main area for improvement is the quality of education. The curriculum is broad and ambitious, but several recently revised subjects, including mathematics, are not yet embedded, and teaching quality varies. Checks on pupils’ learning are inconsistent, so gaps and misconceptions are not picked up quickly enough and some pupils move on before they are ready. Communication with parents is also not consistently timely, although pastoral support is strong and many parents value the school’s work. This was the first routine inspection since the pandemic and followed a new headteacher appointment and a site move in September 2023. The school is well placed in several areas but needs to embed curriculum changes and strengthen assessment and parent communication.

Strengths

• Pupils are confident, happy and feel safe.
• Core values have a positive impact on pupils’ character and behaviour.
• Pupils behave well and bullying is not tolerated.
• The school is aspirational for all pupils, including those with SEND.
• Reading is central, with a new phonics programme improving fluency and confidence.
• Early years children, including those with SEND, get off to a flying start.
• The curriculum is broad and ambitious.
• Enrichment visits, visitors, clubs and residentials broaden pupils’ experiences.
• Strong pastoral support is provided for pupils and families.
• Staff value leaders’ changes and professional development.
• Governors have an accurate view and provide useful support and challenge.
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective.

Areas for Improvement

• Recently revised curriculum, including mathematics and foundation subjects, is not embedded and teaching varies.
• Assessment checks are inconsistent, so gaps and misconceptions are not addressed quickly.
• Some pupils move on to overly complex work before they are ready.
• Communication with parents is not consistently timely, leaving some feeling less informed.
• Mathematics curriculum and a few other subjects are still in development.

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 Leonard's Primary School attended 94.3% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 14.6% 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, 2.3% of pupils at St Leonard's Primary School were suspended at least once (nationally 1.1%). One pupil was 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 Leonard's Primary School had 23.5 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 24.2% 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, 9.0% of pupils at St Leonard's Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.6% 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 Leonard's Primary School received £7,042 and spent £6,723 for each of its 222 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £50,000 (£225 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).

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• Secondary Schools

All schools in Stafford · Staffordshire local authority: places and applications

What is St Leonard's Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for St Leonard's Primary School is Requires Improvement, from an inspection in December 2024.

When was St Leonard's Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

St Leonard's Primary School was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does St Leonard's Primary School have?

St Leonard's Primary School has 222 pupils on roll.

What age range does St Leonard's Primary School cover?

St Leonard's Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

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

Where is St Leonard's Primary School?

St Leonard's Primary School is at Fairway, Stafford, ST16 3TW.