Pot Kiln Primary School

Pot Kiln Primary School requires significant improvement. Pupils are cared for in a warm and inclusive school, and there are clear strengths in early years provision, personal development and the teaching of early reading. Children in Nursery and Reception make good progress from their starting points, behaviour has improved, and pupils benefit from a wide range of pastoral support, clubs and leadership opportunities. Safeguarding standards are met. However, pupils' achievement is a major concern. At the end of key stage 2, outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics are significantly below national averages and have been for several years, with disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND particularly affected. Teaching is not consistently effective, teachers do not routinely check understanding or address gaps promptly, and support for pupils with SEND is not monitored or tailored well enough. Attendance, especially for some disadvantaged pupils, remains too low, and leaders do not evaluate their attendance strategies precisely enough. The school has experienced leadership instability since the previous inspection, which has slowed improvement. Leaders have introduced appropriate changes, particularly in reading, behaviour and aspects of the curriculum, but these are not yet embedded consistently, and quality assurance and governor challenge are not sharp enough in key areas such as attendance and inclusion. The school has a much higher-than-average proportion of pupils receiving SEN support and serves an area with above-average deprivation.

Strengths

• Warm, caring early years provision helps children feel secure and make good progress
• Early years curriculum is well sequenced and ambitious for all children
• Staff identify children with SEND promptly in early years and adapt provision well
• Personal development and wellbeing provision is a strength of the school
• Pupils take on leadership roles and contribute to school decisions
• Pastoral support and targeted wellbeing help improve behaviour and resilience
• Behaviour has improved, suspensions have reduced and bullying is rare
• Early reading and phonics teaching is a strength
• Leaders promote an inclusive culture and use additional funding effectively for disadvantaged pupils
• Leaders engage well with families and external agencies to support vulnerable pupils
• Staff value professional development and leaders' support for wellbeing and workload
• Pupils feel safe and have positive, trusting relationships with staff
• Safeguarding standards are met

Areas for Improvement

• Achievement in reading, writing and mathematics at the end of key stage 2 is significantly below national averages
• Disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND do not achieve as well as they should
• Teaching is not consistently effective across year groups and subjects
• Teachers do not check pupils' understanding consistently or address misconceptions promptly
• Support for pupils with SEND can make them overly reliant on adults and limit independent learning
• Leaders do not monitor SEND support or individual learning plans closely enough
• Overall attendance is below national averages and persistent absence is high
• Some disadvantaged pupils miss school too often
• Leaders do not evaluate the impact of attendance strategies precisely enough
• Curriculum and teaching changes in English and mathematics are at an early stage and not embedded
• Quality assurance systems are not strong enough to identify and act on weaknesses quickly
• Governors are not sufficiently informed about attendance and inclusion to challenge leaders sharply
• Improvement plans are not detailed or precise enough for effective governor accountability
• Leadership instability has slowed improvement and contributed to weaker outcomes over time

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 Pot Kiln Primary School attended 92.6% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 22.5% 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, 2.6% of pupils at Pot Kiln 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 Pot Kiln Primary School had 27.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 22.7% 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, 28.0% of pupils at Pot Kiln Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 3.4% 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 Pot Kiln Primary School received £7,929 and spent £7,387 for each of its 231 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £313,000 (£1,354 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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All schools in Sudbury · Suffolk local authority: places and applications

What is Pot Kiln Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Pot Kiln Primary School is Urgent improvement, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Pot Kiln Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Pot Kiln Primary School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Pot Kiln Primary School have?

Pot Kiln Primary School has 236 pupils on roll.

What age range does Pot Kiln Primary School cover?

Pot Kiln Primary School for pupils aged 3 to 11.

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

In 2025, 47% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Pot Kiln Primary School?

Pot Kiln Primary School is at Butt Road, Great Cornard, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 0DS.