Great Waldingfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School

Great Waldingfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School is a small primary school that is performing well overall. Safeguarding standards are met, early years is a particular strength, and most areas of school life are at the expected standard. Pupils achieve well across the curriculum, attendance is in line with national figures, behaviour has improved, and leadership and governance are stable and supportive. The Reception provision is especially strong, with an ambitious curriculum, skilful adult interactions and well-designed indoor and outdoor learning that prepare children very well for Year 1. The main area requiring attention is inclusion, particularly support for pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The school does not yet have a systematic assess, plan, do, review approach, information about pupils' needs is disjointed, and adaptations in lessons are not consistently precise enough to ensure all pupils with SEND make secure progress. Leaders also need to continue embedding high behaviour expectations, strengthen communication with parents, including parents of pupils with SEND, and help teachers adapt teaching more consistently. The school has seen leadership changes since the previous inspection, including new co-headteachers and a new chair of governors, and governance is now described as stable and supportive. Staff are positive about working at the school, parents are largely positive, and leaders understand the school's strengths and the areas that need further work. Overall, this is a school with many strengths and a clear platform for improvement, with the priority being to make SEND provision and classroom adaptation more consistent.

Strengths

• Early years provision is strong, with an ambitious curriculum and purposeful indoor and outdoor learning.
• Children in Reception thrive and are very well prepared for Year 1.
• Pupils typically achieve well across the curriculum, including in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Mathematics outcomes are above national averages.
• Attendance is in line with national figures and leaders support families effectively.
• Behaviour has improved and most pupils demonstrate positive attitudes to learning.
• Curriculum and teaching are secure, with purposeful use of lesson time and careful checking of understanding.
• Leaders are ambitious, supportive and have a secure understanding of the school's quality of education.
• Governance is stable, supportive and fulfils statutory duties, including safeguarding.
• Personal development is broad, with strong pastoral support and a wide range of enrichment opportunities.
• Parents and carers are largely positive about the school.

Areas for Improvement

• Support for pupils with SEND is inconsistent and lacks a systematic assess, plan, do, review approach.
• Information about pupils' SEND needs is disjointed and suggested strategies are often too broad to have precise impact.
• Adaptation of teaching for pupils with SEND is inconsistent in its impact on learning.
• Teachers need further support to adapt learning more precisely in lessons.
• High behaviour expectations need to be further embedded so all pupils consistently show positive attitudes.
• A small number of pupils struggle with unstructured social time.
• Communication with parents, including parents of pupils with SEND, could be strengthened.

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 Waldingfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School attended 95.2% of sessions (the national figure for primary schools was 94.8%). 10.4% 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, 0.0% of pupils at Great Waldingfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled 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 Great Waldingfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School had 22.4 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for primary schools was 20.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 0.0% 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, 13.8% of pupils at Great Waldingfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School were on SEN support (nationally 15.4%) and 4.4% 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 Great Waldingfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School received £6,182 and spent £6,367 for each of its 203 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £140,000 (£688 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 Sudbury · Suffolk local authority: places and applications

What is Great Waldingfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Great Waldingfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School is Needs attention, from an inspection in October 2026.

When was Great Waldingfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School last inspected by Ofsted?

Great Waldingfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School was last inspected in October 2026.

How many pupils does Great Waldingfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School have?

Great Waldingfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School has 203 pupils on roll.

What age range does Great Waldingfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School cover?

Great Waldingfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School for pupils aged 4 to 11.

What are Great Waldingfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School's SATs (KS2) results?

In 2025, 57% of Year 6 pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths.

Where is Great Waldingfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School?

Great Waldingfield Church of England Voluntary Controlled Primary School is at Folly Road, Great Waldingfield, Sudbury, Suffolk, CO10 0RR.